Hannah Kittle

EDUC 7520
Professor Madden
10/3/18
Mathematics Pedagogical Teaching Philosophy

My conceptualization of teaching for social justice is justice as inclusion. I firmly believe

that school, education, and knowledge should be equally accessible to all students. This is an

especially fraught issue in urban schools, which are responsible for educating a diverse

population of students who hail from a variety of cultures and backgrounds. I believe

implementing justice as inclusion is achievable without disrupting the academics of a school. I

don’t think teachers necessarily need to change their math curriculum, but rather teachers need to

think about the students in their classrooms as individual learners, and identify existing

achievement gaps.

The principles of social justice as inclusion support equal math achievement across all

students. This can be studied, in part, through looking at standardized test scores. This problem

arose in my current practicum placement at the Baldwin School in Cambridge. The Baldwin

received its 2018 MCAS data, and while 76% of White students performed at proficient or

higher on the math MCAS, only 22% of Black students achieved a proficient or higher on the

math MCAS. This is extremely important data to examine; this is a lack of justice and inclusion

in education. Why is there such a significant gap in achievement between White students and

Black students at my school? This doesn’t point to flaws in curriculum, but rather this data is

clearly revealing something about the instruction and the learning styles of individual students at

the Baldwin.

Why are 78% of Black students failing the math MCAS at the Baldwin? What types of

supports are these students receiving? Why are their needs not being met? As I delve further into
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these questions and analyze the data for existing patterns among my students, I will use aspects

of justice as inclusion, such as developing strong relationships in the classroom, maintaining

high expectations, and providing access to math content that is at an appropriate rigor level for

each of my students. Part of justice as inclusion is embracing the fact that what is fair and just

may look differently in each student. Each student needs something different to succeed. I want

all my students to be included in achieving the same level of high achievement, and this might

look differently for students on IEPs or in least restrictive environments.

This aligns with my conceptualization of teaching mathematics as a discipline as a bag of

tools. I believe that for each individual child’s needs to be met, repetition and application of math

skills is key in assisting students across the Zone of Proximal Development. I want my students

to become independent learners. I always found math difficult when I was in school, and I realize

now that I was lacking practical application and real life examples in class. In my own

classroom, I need to find relevant examples of math problems that align with curriculum, and

will resonate with my students. I also believe that part of learning math, especially when you

struggle with the subject as I did, is repetition. If a student doesn't understand a concept yet,

chances are they need more practice. If I provide my students with the necessary tools they need

to succeed, I believe they can make significant progress in their math abilities.

The amount of growth my students make will also depend on the behavior and structure

of my class. My psychological perspective on teaching mathematics is behaviorism. As I

considered my practicum placement this semester and my current class of fourth-graders, I felt a

strong connection to Thorndike’s (1898) theory of behaviorism. Sculpting behaviors and routines

is incredibly important in achieving a successful math class, especially if many students struggle

with focus and structure, as many in my practicum do. Much like a behaviorist, I see myself

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Kittle Mathematics Pedagogical Teaching Philosophy

evaluating student progress based on performance markers such as tests, Do Nows, or Exit

Tickets. Math so often relies on patterns, and teachers must remain diligent in their use of

sequencing and stating objectives and desired behaviors. In particular, I agree with the assertion

that the mind is a muscle. As a math teacher, I hope to impress upon my students how critical

continuous practice is to develop strong math skills.

While repetition is an important aspect of mastering difficult math concepts, teachers

should be wary of how they implement this aspect of behaviorism and bag of tools. Teachers

shouldn’t overemphasize the significance of repetition, because then students lose the ingenuity

and discovery that should be present in math instruction. Students will easily become bored with

repetition. As a math teacher, I hope to incorporate the discipline and behavior aspects of

behaviorism, while also drawing on the theory of cognitivism. This will be especially important

in my practicum placement this semester. My fourth-graders need a lot of guidance and support

in connecting math ideas. To strengthen the muscle in my students’ minds, I must first scaffold

new concepts upon ones they’ve already mastered, or are at least familiar with. Cognitivism only

works if teachers activate students’ prior knowledge. In my math instruction, I hope to be a

behaviorist in the structure and discipline in my classroom, but a cognitivist in the exploration

and stimulation of student knowledge acquisition and growth. I believe if I can strike the right

balance between behaviorism and cognitivism, I can help my students become independent

learners.