Sequencing & selecting solutions in a gendered world

ABSTRACT

Whole-class discussions in mathematics are envisioned as spaces for the sharing of ideas and making connections among them. We pursue how Palestinian/Arab Israeli teachers consider making use of multiple solutions to a task: which three they indicate that they would select for a whole-class discussion and in what sequence. Under the hypothetical assumption that each solution has been authored by boys and girls (with below-average and with above-average grades), how do teachers consider distributing opportunities to present the designated solutions? Participants most commonly selected a direct model, an error, or an inductive approach supported by a geometric representation, typically in that sequence (or error, direct model, inductive). Participants tended to indicate that they would invite a girl with below-average grades to present the direct model; a student with above-average grades to present the error; and a boy with above-average grades to present the inductive/geometric solution. Our analysis extends to participants’ explanations of their choices and illuminates their intentions: making use of existing status arrangements, leveraging existing hierarchies to benefit others in the class, or modifying the indicated student’s status by making space for them to participate on the public floor. Our analysis highlights implications of these patterns, especially in terms of classroom opportunities to learn.

KEYWORDS:

• Whole-class discussions
• selecting and sequencing students’ solutions
• gender
• equity

Acknowledgments

We thank Elham Kazemi, Cynthia Nicol, and anonymous reviewers for their feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript. This article extends findings presented in two conference papers:

Rubel, L., Ayalon, M. & Shahbari, J. (2021). Gendered narratives shaping whole class discussions: Who is invited to present which kinds of solutions? Proceedings of the 11th International Meeting of Mathematics Education & Society (9 pages). Austria. RP.

Rubel, L., Ayalon, M. & Shahbari, J. (2021). Selecting and sequencing students’ ideas: Teachers’ social considerations. Proceedings of the 44th Annual Meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (9 pages). Thailand. RP.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. For example, Hebrew and Arabic languages are gendered languages at their core. In both languages, a sentence’s subject (including inanimate objects) is gendered and this gendering is significant in how it must align with different endings for adjectives and verbs. Thus, a sentence like “I am sitting in a chair” which is not gendered in English, in both Hebrew and Arabic takes a gendered form. Furthermore, in addition to a gendered third person, like she/he in English, other pronouns in these languages (I, you, you all, they all) are gendered as well. While there are fledgling efforts to modernize these languages in this regard (e.g., Nonbinary Hebrew Project (n.d.) and Wikigender (n.d.)), it is our experience that these are far outside of mainstream awareness.

2. Some might reasonably question our choice of gender and achievement without considering race. In some contexts, race likely plays a significant role in this and other classroom processes. However, race as a concept is less salient in this geopolitical context.

3. The default local term is “Arab Israeli,” a category that is locally recognizable by people’s surnames and language use in a context of separation. We note that this default signifier is problematic in how it distances this group from a Palestinian identity. Thus, despite its awkwardness, we opt to follow Pinson’s (2008) use of the term “Palestinian/Arab Israelis.”

4. Haj-Yahya et al. (2018) refers to a statistic from 2009. The 2022 rate is higher but remains relatively low.

5. We posed this task prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The global focus on infectious diseases perhaps casts the task as stated as anachronistic. Readers should feel comfortable to replace “handshakes” with “elbow bumps” as they see fit.

6. Here, too, we run the risk of making it seem that we view mathematical ability in terms of achievement, that ability is then dichotomous in terms of high/low, and that these distinctions are static and should carry meaning for teachers.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation [1820040051].

Notes on contributors

Laurie H. Rubel

Laurie H. Rubel is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics Education at the University of Haifa. Her research interests are in mathematics teacher education and social contexts of education.

Michal Ayalon

Michal Ayalon is a senior lecturer in the Department of Mathematics Education at the University of Haifa. Her main research interests are argumentation in m athematics classrooms, formative assessment, teaching practices, and teacher education.

Juhaina A. Shahbari

Juhaina Awawdeh Shahbari is a senior lecturer in the Department of Mathematics Education Program at the Al-Qasemi Academic College of Education. Her research interests are cognitive and meta-cognitive aspects of mathematical modeling, cognitive processes in teaching and learning mathematics, and teacher education.