A social justice approach to teaching mathematics

Amidst the global pandemic the consequences of understanding mathematics and making critical decisions based on the individual and collective wellbeing of one’s society has never been more evident. The infusion of mathematics with social justice emphasises being globally aware whilst locally contextualising critical dilemmas. Issues of global and local importance such as, climate change, food security, COVID-19, displacement and homelessness, demands critical perspectives across disciplines. Changing our future necessitates a robust understanding of mathematics to assist students and educators to understand the complexity of these social justice issues so that they can anticipate, act, and reflect. Inspired by the long history of transformative work by Professor Robyn Jorgensen and Associate Professor Peter Gates and others on social justice and mathematics, I have been exploring teaching mathematics for social justice in conjunction with colleagues at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Presented in this paper is an argument for the importance of a social justice approach to teaching mathematics, suggested engaging teaching mathematics for social justice issues and tasks for your future exploration, and the challenges and benefits this approach offers.