The TMSJN (launched in April 2021) is a network for teachers of mathematics (in all school phases) committed to addressing issues of equity and social justice in the mathematics classroom.
The principal aim of the Teaching Maths for Social Justice Network is to share teaching ideas, resources, and practices with each other, and to provide mutual support and encouragement.
The meetings will be held every half term to begin with – some meetings will be held online and others face-to-face (hosted initially at UCL Institute of Education, London) – meetings will be either twilight sessions or on a Saturday morning.
Background/further information:
The Covid-19 pandemic has drawn attention to longstanding inequities and injustices within education, and more widely in society, as their consequences have become more visible. It has highlighted the need to critique conventional mathematics pedagogies and to explore more engaging and empowering teaching approaches that can help prepare mathematics learners to address the social, economic, political, and environmental challenges facing our society.
Teaching mathematics for social justice (TMSJ) aims to:
- Employ collaborative, discursive, problem-solving, and problem-posing pedagogies, which promote mathematical sense-making and the engagement of all learners with mathematics.
- Promote mathematical inquiries that resonate with learners’ real-life experiences and that help them develop greater understanding of their social/ cultural/ political/ economic situations.
- Facilitate mathematical investigations that develop learners’ individual and collective agency, enabling them to take part in future social action for the public good.
- Challenge common myths surrounding school mathematics, expose processes that lead to the marginalisation of some learners, and open up to scrutiny what it means to be successful.
Future activities of the TMSJN might include (other suggestions welcome):
- Seminars/meetings/workshops with presentations/speakers/discussions.
- Engaging with research literature on TMSJ and discussing its relevance to classroom practice.
- Online discussion forum to share updates/news/ideas within the network between meetings.
- Developing and disseminating teaching resources focused on TMSJ.
- Fostering, supporting and disseminating collaborative research projects in schools.
The Network will initially be convened by Dr Pete Wright (UCL Institute of Education):
Email = pete.wright@ucl.ac.uk ; Twitter = @petewrightioe
Pete has written extensively about his collaborative research with teachers on issues of social justice in the mathematics classroom. You can find out more about his work (including a recent book published by ATM) by following these links:
- The ATM book on TMSJ: https://tinyurl.com/4ucdvn8h
- The TMSJ research project: https://maths-socialjustice.weebly.com/
- The VMP research project: https://visiblemathspedagogy.wordpress.com/
- UCL academic profile: https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=PWRIG40
The Teaching Maths for Social Justice Network 