University of Illinois at Chicago
The idea of equity in education has blossomed into a mainstream principle in recent years, and in this talk, I explore its evolution within the academic scholarship of mathematics education. I argue that equity discourse has a decades-long and distinctive history in U.S. mathematics education—a history that is accentuated by nationalist status concerns. The talk highlights both the developments and dangers of equity as a discourse and is punctuated by the following questions: For whom and what purposes? Who benefits? What have we learned and gained? What do we stand to lose?
Dr. Gregory Larnell specializes in the study of mathematics education as a curricular field, as an institutional-policy enterprise, and as a site for experiencing learning and teaching. He has drawn on theoretical ideas from multiple fields toward critically examining the role of standards in school mathematics; Black learners' experiences in non-credit remedial mathematics courses; teaching and learning mathematics for social justice; identities, stereotypes, and mathematics-learning experiences; urban mathematics education; and the use of critical race theory in mathematics education research. He is currently developing projects on Black family mathematics socialization, mathematics and citizenship, STEM-mentoring experiences, and the question of equity in mathematics education. His scholarship has been published in several journals and edited volumes; find and download his work here.
Dr. Larnell develops and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the College of Education across curricular and degree programs (including in the general education program): Introduction to Urban Education; STEM, Education, and Society; Teaching and Learning Elementary Mathematics in the Urban Classroom; Research on the Learning of Mathematics; Research on the Mathematics Teachers and Teaching; and Curriculum and Teaching. He also serves in multiple service capacities locally, institutionally, nationally, and internationally—including faculty mentoring programs; community organizations; ad-hoc reviewing for the National Science Foundation, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, American Educational Research Journal, The Urban Review (among others); and a past invited member of the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics Research Committee and the American Educational Research Journal editorial board.