Obstacles to Addressing Race and Ethnicity in the Mathematics Education Literature

Authors

Amy Noelle Parks, University of GeorgiaFollow
Mardi Schmeichel, University of GeorgiaFollow

ORCID IDs

Mardi Schmeichel

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

3-2012

Citation

Journal of Research in Mathematics Education 43:3 (March 2012), pp. 126-140.

doi: 10.5951/jresematheduc.43.3.0238

Comments

Copyright © 2012 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Published by Hipatia Press. Creative Commons CC BY Attribution license.

Abstract

This Research Commentary builds on a 2-stage literature review to argue that there are 4 obstacles to making a sociopolitical turn in mathematics education that would allow researchers to talk about race and ethnicity in ways that take both identity and power seriously. The obstacles discussed are (a) the marginalization of discussions of race and ethnicity; (b) the reiteration of race and ethnicity as independent variables; (c) absence of race and ethnicity from mathematics education research; and (d) the minimizing of discussions of race and ethnicity, even within equity-oriented work.