Our Mathematical World

We believe all children are capable “math doers.” However, there is often a lack of representation and a lack of belief in the strengths, skills, and experiences that children bring. As a consequence, children can experience math as boring or too difficult.

What if we switched our focus to what students know and bring to school? What if we taught students about math in their communities and the representative history of math? What if we strengthened the precursory skills that we know are necessary for math achievement (working memory, inhibition, persistence, etc.)? What if we helped children understand their strengths and build their identity and agency as “math doers”? Rather than asking students to leave parts of themselves out of the math classroom, we invite the whole child into school and make high-level math learning skills part of their personal narrative. We encourage marginalized students to engage with math in ways that are congruent with knowledge sharing in their communities.