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  Case: Math and Social Justice! No No!
Recently, I read a report in a national magazine on income levels of different groups of people in the US. The report especially featured income differences between males, females and different ethnic groups. Some of the statistics were very disturbing. For example, women holding the same job as men with same number of years in the job made considerably less money in most of the states. Differences between ethnic groups were even more disturbing. I decided to use these data in my math class with my 5th graders in a lesson on graphing. The purpose was for the students to be able to interpret graphs and create graphs using the information provided. Students enjoyed the lesson and learned some social justice lessons. Apparently a lot of my students talked to their parents about what they had learned in class when they went home. I received notes from about 10 parents the next day simply indicating that what I taught in my math class would lead to hatred among my students and that I should not be wasting their children's valuable time. Rather, they suggested, I should teach math with no controversial materials. I completely disagree with them and I plan to use similar materials in my other courses as well. However, my principals asked me to send an explanation to those parents. I know my explanation will not stop the complaints. How should I go about this potentially long battle? Or should I take the short cut simply remove such content from my lessons?
Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!)
Parents are a valuable resource in the education of your students. Therefore, I would follow your principals advise and send an explanation to all parents. I would explain that the main focus of the activity was graphing skills. Students needed data to use, so you tried to choose community relevant, present day data to make the lesson more authentic. You merely presented the data. Students gathered their own assumptions and interest in the data based purely on personal interest, as you did not discuss the topic with the class. You can not be responsible for what items peak student interest, rather you are charged with the task of teaching graphing and math skills in a relevant manner to your students. Moving forward, I would continue to choose meaningful data. However, I would stick strictly to the numbers and not provide background discussion.