Delegating Mathematical Authority as a Means to Strive Toward Equity

Abstract

In this article, the author provides insight into the pedagogical processes for delegating mathematical authority to students, through the use of specific classroom structures, as a means to strive toward equity. Employing qualitative methods, the author analyzes transcripts of classroom video, along with field notes and teacher and student interviews, collected during one semester of the participating teacher's Algebra I course. The author addresses how the teacher's practice was striving toward equity through the use of classroom structures that delegated mathematical authority to students. Analyses revealed that the teacher delegated mathematical authority through the use of student presentations, Shuffle Quizzes, and Participation Quizzes. Each instance featured was chosen to highlight a different facet of the ways in which delegating authority repositioned students as competent sense-makers.

Making Competence Explicit: Helping Students Take Up Opportunities to Engage in Math Together

“…Inviting a student to solve a challenging problem, to share a solution with the class, or to explain or elaborate upon their idea can also (either implicitly or explicitly) position a student as a competent knower and doer of mathematics. Whereas most classroom environments are anchored in views of mathematics that privilege speed and accuracy in applying teachers' prescribed solution methods, systems of competence are enacted locally in ways that can either challenge or reinforce narrow views of mathematical activity (Dunleavy, 2015;Gresalfi et al, 2009).…”