Challenges Related to Teaching Mathematics Using Social Justice Pedagogies: A Secondary School Experience

Abstract

This study involves an Australian Western Victorian District High School year nine mixed ability mathematics class learning mathematics using social justice pedagogy. The learning intent of the unit required students to compare their own lifestyles against different families from around the world and use mathematics as a tool to investigate inequality. Although the study’s findings showed that there were associations between student learning and engagement when using this initiative, there were also many individual and unique challenges encountered during the study. These challenges included integrating the study into an already overloaded school curriculum and many different educational stakeholders. Data analysis suggested that teachers who use social justice pedagogies within their classroom practices need to be flexible, highly adaptive and have a strong commitment to achieve the best learning outcomes for the students.

Keywords: Social justice mathematics, student engagement, inequality, society, mathematics, challenges.