Expand Understandings
Expand understandings of mathematical concepts, algorithms, histories and cultures, to pursue solutions that matter
Students consistently lead and engage in learning experiences that are both deep and wide, providing the opportunity for productive struggle, conceptual understanding of content and sense-making of relevant contexts in which content lives.
Students enjoy multiple means of engagement, representation and action and expression in embodying their understanding - in ways that build long-term positive mathematical identities. For example, as students expand fundamental understandings of squares and area, they have multiple opportunities to derive the proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. Students are also inspired to investigate why the theorem is credited to Pythagoras instead of its Babylonian origins alongside their pursuit of community based application.
As students explore non-european origins of mathematics, the work of BIPOC mathematicians, and the contributions of women in mathematics, help to challenge the role that the marginalization of people and places continue to play in mathematics. Deeper understandings engender a self-agency that students fluent in mathematics enjoy and wield in powerful ways.
Resources
The Rochester Racial Justice Toolkit
The Rochester Racial Justice Toolkit is an online resource to help strengthen, sustain, inform, and empower deeper racial justice and anti-racism action, specifically helping folks who want to better understand (complex) intersectional identities, deeper racial justice dialogue and anti-racism action.