Ethical Reasoning in Mathematics: New Directions for Didactics in U.S. Mathematics Education

Jordan Register, Michelle Stephan and David Pugalee
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Jordan Register: Departments of Mathematics and Statistics and Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, North Carolina, NC 28223, USA
Michelle Stephan: Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, North Carolina, NC 28223, USA
David Pugalee: Center for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, North Carolina, NC 28223, USA

Mathematics, 2021, vol. 9, issue 8, 1-24

Abstract: In this article we analyze the current state of the didactics of mathematics in the U.S. as it relates to research on equity. The sociopolitical turn in U.S. mathematics education resulted in a push for critical mathematics pedagogies (CMPs) in which predominantly marginalized populations of students explore social injustices through mathematics. We argue that mathematics education for equity must access broader populations of students and develop students’ ethical reasoning skills to build an ethical and equitable future. To address didactical limitations in U.S. mathematics education, we introduce the Ethical Reasoning in Mathematics Framework (ERiM) as a tool to analyze high school students’ ethical reasoning in real-world mathematics tasks. Using data from the initial phase of a Design Research project with students of privilege, we show how the ERiM Framework can be used to design lessons that elicit students’ critical math consciousness (CMC). We end the article with design implications and recommendations for future research on the didactics of equitable mathematics.

Keywords: didactics; mathematics; ethics; equity; U.S. design research; data science (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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