Mathematical Pedagogical Teaching Philosophy

Rebecca Krane 10/03/2018

First and foremost in any classroom ought to be a vision for social justice that promotes

diversity, understanding, and the needs of every student. A popular social justice model is that of

inclusion, which states that if resources and standards were equal, all would be fair. I agree that

every student deserves to be held to ambitious standards. However, this approach neglects larger

systems relating to race, class, and ability that cannot simply be ameliorated by providing more

money or teachers with more background in their subject. For this reason, a sociopolitical

approach that emphasizes the role of structures in restricting accepted curricula, assessments, and

teaching environments is more appealing to me. This approach provides an interesting

opportunity to consider how current math environments are ablest, especially for the blind and

people with deafblindness. Tools such as manipulatives enable access that writing-centered

teaching prevents, with the added benefit of engaging students in new ways. It will always be

crucial to me to study how math learning environments can be more inclusive and adaptive, as

well as consider my students’ other identities that will affect their educational opportunities.

I come from a background of studying STEM fields in a historical perspective. For this

reason, I enjoy thinking about math broadly and theoretically, similar to the Platonist approach to

teaching mathematics. Much of the beauty and creative thinking of math comes from logical

thinking and appreciating why math works the way it does. That being said, I believe that

psychological theories of development do not support a Platonist approach as a sole teaching

method. Jean Piaget’s work suggests that abstract reasoning isn’t fully developed until around

age 11, and as Platonistic teaching aspires to think broadly and deeply, this may not be possible

or may go beyond most students’ zone of proximal development, increasing math related
anxiety. This resonates with my personal math learning experiences. Until I felt I had a solid

foundation in mathematical operations, I didn’t feel capable of exploring the theoretical. A bag-

of-tools approach, one which emphasizes mathematical skills potentially at the expense of deeper

understanding, can create fluidity that will enable exploration down the road. Combined with

dynamic-problem driven approaches that connect math to the real world and other academic

subjects, such as math in cooking for students preparing to transition to adult living programs,

this approach should allow for students to become strong in math without becoming bored,

hopefully creating a curiosity to be fulfilled later with more abstract mathematical teaching.

Having mentioned Piaget and the zone of proximal development, it is worth exploring the

role of psychological research in a special education math class. Inevitably, behaviorism will

play some part in math education at this level, especially for students with Autism Spectrum

Disorder (ASD) who require Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), a methodology for conditioning

desired behavior through positive reinforcements. That being said, conditioning cannot be the

basis of all learning in the classroom. Cognitivist approaches to learning and Piagetian ideas

around schemas emphasize that knowledge cannot be reduced to simple functions that are

rewarded or punished, but instead that ideas are complex, developed, and interact with one

another. This must be especially true in mathematics, as learning new applications of

mathematical tools ought to force the evolution of existing schemas. The schema of addition

should need to change once multiplication is learned, and the schema for multiplication should

need to adapt with exponents, etc. Mathematics requires the ability to form and reform schemas,

as in cognitivism and Piagetian theories of development.

Finally, no discussion of learning and teaching is complete without mention of Lev

Vygotsky’s theories on the socio-cultural nature of learning. This suggests that all learning is
based in one’s culture, meaning concepts are imparted and assigned importance by society, and

that learning cannot be performed in a vacuum, but must be done with others, most importantly

in collaborative settings. This aspect of learning should not be denied in mathematics classes.

Students should work together, work closely with teachers, and in doing so uncover how far they

can expand their learning. Vygotsky’s concept of zone of proximal development emphasizes this,

pointing to the fact that working with others can create better engagement with familiar concepts,

better academic performance, and greater confidence in mathematic abilities. With this in mind

for assessment and curriculum development, math can become a subject of exploration,

excitement, and success, not boredom and anxiety.