Episode 055: Teaching for Social Justice with Timothy Stark

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Summary:

All Standards All Students. This is one of NGSS 5 innovations. And part of that innovation involves “inclusion of phenomena and problems that are relevant and authentic to a range of student backgrounds and interests, with supports for modifying the context to meet local needs and opportunities for students to make meaningful connections to the context based on their current understanding, personal experiences, and cultural background.” Timothy Stark shares examples of teaching for social justice  and resources.

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Show Highlights

• 03:30 - 06:00    Introduction to Timothy, how he started teaching, and how he started thinking about social justice in his teaching
• 06:00 - 12:00    How Timothy used a graph lesson to introduce social justice into his classroom
• 12:00 - 17:00    Considering your identity & privilege when teaching social justice issues
• 17:00 - 20:00    Making space for students' feelings when teaching social justice issues
• 20:00 - 24:30    More examples of justice-oriented lessons
• 24:35 - 29:00    Where Timothy is now & his work with the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance
• 29:00 - 34:00    Other resources & ideas for teachers that Timothy recommends 

 Show Quotes 

"People always say math is neutral, like it's not inherently political. But it [the book Rethinking Mathematics] talks about how it is inherently political. And what are we doing if we're not encouraging our students, our future generation, to look at issues of true justice and getting them to think critically about them?"  [10:35-11:00] Timothy Stark

"I wanted them to walk away feeling like, 'yeah, ok. I can think about this. I can understand this issue, and I can think about what are ways that I think maybe it can change?' So my hope was that if they saw that and they really engaged with the topic, then when they're moving forward in different situations they can think, 'yeah, I do have agency in this. I can make some impact. I can do some things to change.'" [19:30 - 20:00] Timothy Stark

Links

• Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers

• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

• NGSS 5 Innovations

• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

• Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance

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