Commentary 2: the Importance of Context and Nuance in Designing Learning Experiences for Teachers: A Commentary on Bieda’s Case

I have been a mathematics educator (teacher, researcher, and professor) for roughly 20 years and was born and raised in the South. As an African American student in racially mixed public schools, and then as an African American teacher in similarly diverse schools, I have always noticed issues of equity and access in mathematics classrooms. As a professor and researcher, my work is influenced by my own experiences as a teacher and student in these settings. One of my most vivid—and favorite—memories of high school mathematics teaching is when a White male student pointed out that it was as important for him to have had me as a math teacher and role model as it was for the Black students in the class who had said that I was their first Black math teacher. My point here is that teachers often influence students in ways we cannot always predict—and we are role models to all of our students, whether or not we share their backgrounds.