Toward More Ethical Math Education Through Inverting Hospitality Metaphors

 

Grace Chen, PhD

Faculty Fellow & Assistant Professor of Math Education

NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development 

 

In response to the exclusionary and oftentimes violent nature of mathematics education, many teachers aim to humanize math classrooms by creating “welcoming environments” or "inviting" students to belong in "mathematical communities." In this talk, I first review the limitations of hospitality metaphors through poststructural and critical theories. Then, I draw on data from a yearlong ethnographic investigation into two Algebra 1 classrooms to explore how inverting the hospitality metaphor-- rather than rejecting it-- may offer more dignified and ethical alternatives.

 

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