Chapter 25: Possibilities and Challenges in Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice

This article is about some of the possibilities and challenges in teaching mathematics for social justice. As such, it reflects ongoing, in-process work. It is based on my collaboration with others over the past thirteen years (1994–2007) in Chicago public schools. I first studied culturally relevant mathematics teaching in a Mexican American context (Gutstein, Lipman, Hernández, & de los Reyes, 1997), then taught my own 7th and 8th grade classes at Rivera (a pseudonym) school from 1997–2003 (Gutstein, 2003, 2006a). More recently (2003–present), as an outgrowth of my work at Rivera, I have been working at the Greater Lawndale/Little Village School for Social Justice (GLLVSSJ—not a pseudonym; Gutstein, 2007-b, in-press b). At GLLVSSJ, I was a member of the design team that helped start the school, which opened in Fall 2005. Since then (two plus years), I have been supporting the school’s mathematics teachers, co-teaching, working with students, and continuing to teach and study mathematics for social justice. This piece focuses more on the research, practice, and current issues at the GLLVSSJ, as I explained my work at Rivera in depth in Gutstein (2006a).