Search

This preliminary work is from a larger study on the experiences of Black students learning mathematics in rural Appalachia. Following previous findings, this piece analyzes a series of interviews with Black students from West Virginia who were asked to imagine their ideal mathematics education through the lens of critiquing injustices. These freedom dreams were intended to develop features of a new mathematics education; however, there were tensions present in their re-imagination. They were often constrained by dominant notions of achievement and race in mathematics education. These tensions and student voices need to be taken into consideration in reform and change in mathematics education in rural Appalachia and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ways in which Black students identify with and experience mathematics is contextual, so it is necessary to explore the peculiarities and complexities of the experiences of Black learners of mathematics in various spaces and geographies while also attending to the intricacies of individual and schoolwide interactions. One context that needs this attention is rural Appalachia. The region is defined by a normative Whiteness and by economic issues, resulting in issues of race being made invisible. This study explores the mathematics identities and experiences of Black students in rural Appalachia. One in-progress counterstory of a Black student in the region is presented here. This highlights the necessity to explore mathematics identity and socialization in the context of rural Appalachia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]