151119 rewriting leadership strategy the brilliance of black children in mathematics
TRANSCRIPT
Rewriting Leadership Strategy: The Brilliance of Black Children
in Mathematics Lou Edward Matthews, PhD
Department of Education Bermuda
loumatthews
Bermuda Public School System
About us 700 miles off coast of Cape
Hatteras 6000 children 18 elementary schools 5 middle schools 2 high schools 1 special school 1 alternative program
My journey Mathematics teacher Director of schools Mathematics Ed professor Journal editor Researcher Coach
Articulation of National Standards
Adopting System of Assessments
New Focused Curriculum
Large-scale PD for Teachers and Educators
Standards Movement
Shifts in Mathematics Teaching
4th Annual Education Expo (Bermuda)
Less Emphasis More Emphasis
Emphasis on answer-getting Emphasis on Big ideas
Mathematics as definitions and prerequisites
On connections, applications
Memorizing procedures Conjecturing, Reasoning
Teacher for right answers Students validate arguments
Classrooms of individuals Classrooms as communities
…where students are confidently engaged in doing mathematics, problem solving, reasoning,
critical thinking, collaboration and inquiry. …teachers who intentionally facilitate a
community of students with rigorous and relevant tasks, building on student
understanding and strategies to develop procedural and conceptual knowledge.
- Bermuda National Mathematics Strategy
Our Vision for Mathematics Education
National Mathematics Strategy
Ensure common framework for teaching emphasizing problem solving
Ensure access to effective, proven interventions
Ensure opportunities for rigorous, relevant tasks
Establish standards for use of high quality texts and resources
Provide professional development for coaching, content and instruction
This ain’t Rocket Science (but it is math reform)
What we know: Fostering school and teacher
leadership
Principals and leaders establish powerful visions of a balanced program and cultures for continuous improvement in teaching.
Teachers involved in high quality job-embedded staff development that revolves around teaching and learning happening in their own classroom.
Ongoing support for observing and coaching teachers around mathematics instruction
Experiences of successful students
engaging meaningful relevant and useful
Community College Pathways report (2013)
Reframing of African American Mathematics Achievement
The Brilliance of Black Children in Mathematics: Beyond the Numbers
and Toward a New Discourse
Counters the “deficit” thinking regarding Black children and their achievement in mathematics
15 chapters, five themes Cultural, Historical,
Political Identity, Learning
environments, success
Preparing teachers
Leadership Response: Culturally Relevant/Responsive Mathematics Teaching
Transcends the reality of mathematics reform, standards, and accountability…
Challenges the ‘cultureless’ promotion of school math
Builds from the cultural experiences of students.
See excellence in mathematics achievement as within the possibilities of ALL students
Challenge inequitable math curriculum and course structure
Uses math classroom as a site of liberatory practice
Big Questions
What is MathematicsHow do you teach mathematics?How do students learn
mathematics?Who can learn mathematics?
Vision Confronts Reality
Disconnects between global excellence messages and local community discourse serves as an eminent danger to the lives of Black students.
Localized deficit-oriented discourse in urban communities has a debilitating affect (mindset of unempowerment) on educators’ actions
Negative media (talk shows, newspaper headlines, television shows) concerning the education of Black students creates a battleground between stakeholders--parents, teachers, principals, and other administrators.
1) faulty assumptions about what mathematics is
2) faulty assumptions about how mathematics should be taught
3) Resistant worldviews about Black children, equality, and justice
4) institutionalized impotence of senior leadership to address policy, resources and systemic barriers.
Four Fundamental Forces
Teachers struggled to see mathematics as a relevant,
cultural discipline from which cultural and societal inquiry can emanate and flourish (Matthews,
2003)
Students of color are often subjected to instructional strategies that
emphasize authoritative, didactic, and/or whole group instruction (Gay,
2000).
“Administrators can push teachers to change their classroom activities,
but we also need to change their fundamental beliefs and attitudes about teaching and learning, the
roles of teachers and students, and how teaching and learning should be carried out” – Leading Mathematics
Instruction
Even when mathematics tasks are around the
context of students’ lives, instruction may fail to
maximize its potential to engage students (Enyedy & Mukhopadyay, 2007).
Strategic #1
Replace current vision of school mathematics with Local dynamic, inclusive public definition
Adopt a new LOCAL definition/vision of mathematics
Build vision from ground up
Divert resources to building deep understanding around ‘new mathematics’
Strategy #2
Build a critical mass of culturally responsive/relevant mathematics teachers
Start as small as possible a number as possible: 5-10
Divert resources to building capacity for these teachers
Deploy these teachers where it matters
Strategy #3
Create Immediate ACCESS to Rigorous Coursework, Programs and Pathways
Ensure that all students experience the EXTENDED vs CORE curriculum
Business Calculus Discrete Mathematics Adopt college-leading
pathways Mandate interventions All programs: intervention
plus acceleration. E.g. A two year calculus course
“I used to be a reformer...”“I used to be a reformer…”
Movement Building 101
World Class Standards
System of Assessments
Adoption of Curriculum
Large-scale PD for Teachers and Educators
Standards Movement
Start a Movement!
You bounce a ball, kids come to play with the ball. You keep bouncing. The ball rolls under the house. The adults come to see
the commotion– Bob Moses, Algebra Project
The Case for Movement Building Bermuda has no shortage of
‘movements’ of excellence in teaching, leadership and education over the last 100 years.
Social movements of “people” have historically moved the structure around them. “When people move, everything around them must move.”
Local people movements can restore the faith of people in “change”, and their abilities to bring it about.
“Reforming” vs. “Moving”
Reforming Utilizes Reform Experts
to provide data to implement change
Facilitates small or large localized professional development funded by administration/federal/state
Often standardizes its operation across contexts
Moving Seeks the “hidden”
expertise of educators and locals as DATA to drive change
Builds small localized experiences powered by educators
Adjusts its operation and features to mold to school/local context