Examining the Change in Preservice Mathematics Teachers' Conceptions and Effectiveness of Social Justice Content

This study examines preservice teachers' perceptions of teaching mathematics using social justice topics to make mathematics accessible to all students. Situated at a large, public, predominantly White institution in the southeast United States, where preservice teachers are not required to take a course on teaching diverse populations, participants were asked to respond to questions surrounding their experience with a mathematical social justice activity adapted from Gutstein and Peterson (2005). Using a mixed methods approach in analyzing data from pre-and post-surveys, researchers could compare preservice mathematics teachers' initial views of teaching mathematics for social justice after participating in an intervention/activity on world wealth and population disparity. Results showed that although preservice teachers' attitudes shifted from more general statements to somewhat more concrete ideas surrounding the classroom environment, these students are still apprehensive about using this form of pedagogy in the future.