"Why Be Average When You Could Be Extraordinary?": A Case Study of an Exemplary African American Math Teacher

Abstract

It is well documented that as an educational system we subject students from particular racial and socioeconomic backgrounds to unequal schooling experiences. Some researchers attribute the unequal schooling experiences and outcomes of minoritized students of color to their limited access to educational resources, like skilled teachers and quality curriculum. Other researchers identify that even in highly resourced American schools, African American students are specifically subjected to oppressive learning conditions. Given this context of schooling for African American students, this study explores how an African American 8th-grade mathematics teacher, Ms. Collier, may be a protective factor in her students’ education. Specifically, I use qualitative case study methods to examine how Ms. Collier’s instructional practice relates to historical conceptualizations of African American teachers of African American students, and how her mathematics instruction socially positions her students as learners of mathematics. For this case study, I conducted classroom observations in two differently tracked mathematics classes, as well as semi-structured interviews with Ms. Collier and her students in both classes. Ipay particular attention to how she enacts a historically situated practice of care for her students, through how she facilitates whole class discussions and maintains high expectations for her students. I then consider how her instructional practice positions the students as learners of mathematics and compare how the students are positioned in her honors and on-level classes. The findings of this study suggest that Ms. Collier’s instructional practices are rooted in a historical legacy of African American teachers resisting antiblack, deficit characterizations of Black students. Instead, Ms. Collier cares for her students by supporting them in their pursuit of mathematics learning in multifaceted and nuanced ways. Her care manifests in her teaching practice by cultivating a classroom culture that centers student belonging. She does this by allowing students to experience a range of emotions, like nervousness and joy, all the while still perceiving and treating them as mathematically competent. She also makes considerable demands of her students, including that they publicly participate in problem solving during whole class discussions, even when they do not know the answer. The classroom interactions reveal that all of Ms. Collier’s students, across both tracked classes, are positioned as mathematically competent. However, there are some distinctions in how the students are positioned across the two classes. Whereas the students in the on-level class are positioned as capable of making sense of and persisting in mathematical problem solving, in the honors class the students are positioned as capable of making mathematical connections and solving problems independently. Despite these differences, all of Ms. Collier’s students, across both tracked classes, are positioned as human.