When Critical Multiculturalism Meets Mathematics by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ARLENE: AN EXTREME MAKEOVER

It was the final presentation Arlene would make to a group of her fellow NMD teachers. As a member of Cohort 1, the stipulation was that she had to “give back” to others in the project. This time Arlene’s presentation was before a group of Cohort 2 teachers. Arlene began by sharing that she had come a long way over the three years she’d been part of NMD. For her final presentation she prepared to share just how meaningful the experience had been.

The opening slide revealed the title of her presentation: “NMD Extreme Makeover,” and the next two slides showed photos of Arlene. The first was a disheveled image of her under the headline “Before NMD”; the second revealed a polished professional photo with the headline “After NMD.” The images had been displayed for comic effect, but to Arlene they communicated so much more. Turning serious Arlene detailed how her orientation toward teaching mathematics and her understanding of culture on the teaching-learning process had changed over the three-year span. According to Arlene she had been “made over” both professionally and personally by the experience of NMD.

Arlene was born in a small town about 75 miles outside of Crutchfield-Whinton. She completed an undergraduate degree in Psychology at State University and later earned a teaching license at a nearby four-year institution. These accomplishments distinguished her as the first grandchild on either side of her family to graduate from college.

Arlene describes herself as having been an “economically challenged” child because she received reduced price lunches early in her schooling career. Her mother worked two jobs to make ends meet. Over time things did change in her family for the better leaving Arlene with fond reveries of “moving on up.”10 Mom remarried, eventually gave birth to Arlene’s two younger siblings, and they became a “two-income family [that] no longer needed to struggle . . . to make ends meet.”

Her cultural autobiography begins “I am an American Southerner of European decent [sic]. The majority of my ancestors were from England, Scotland, and Ireland.” She writes that memories of her early teachers are foggy, yet this claim is belied by her descriptions of a few who clearly made important impressions. For example, Arlene credits Mrs. Fauntroy, her favorite elementary school teacher, with being a major influence on why she decided to become a teacher. Mrs. Fauntroy, Arlene recalls, “cared a lot for me and all her students.”

Other precollegiate school interactions that made an impression include learning Spanish from a teacher “of Anglo American background” and the twelfth grade math teacher, Mrs. Smith, who was a favorite. “All through elementary school my teachers were White females. I do remember having some African American teaching assistants. One in particular, Ms. Harrison called me motor mouth.” Other sharp memories for Arlene include a seventh grade English teacher. “My least favorite teacher . . . was Mr. Washington [who] was African American and my first male teacher that wasn’t a gym teacher. He was crazy about diagramming sentences.

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