Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         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!) I think your lesson was a great lesson! I would definitely not take the easy way out. Because students talk to their parents and sometimes change some of the information into their own interpretation, I would definitely listen to your principal and send a letter home explaining the reasoning behind your lesson and how it directly relates to your course content. I would send this letter home prior to the students completing the assignment so the parents are not caught off guard at the dinner table. Or send it home to day of the assignment. If parents still send in notes of complaint I would explain to them the importance of their students understanding the reality of the world they are living in. They are using the information they are learning in math to apply their skills to real life scenarios. As long as you take the time to fully explain your reasoning and activity, I do not think the parents would have a problem with the idea. If you rely on your students who are just learning concepts to go home and explain what they did, you will continue to receive letters of complaint.