Abstract

VALOYES-CHAVEZ, Luz. Racial Inequality and Mathematics Education. Rev. colomb. educ. [online]. 2017, n.73, pp.129-152. ISSN 0120-3916.  https://doi.org/10.17227/01203916.73rce127.150.

In Colombia, ethnic and racial minority students systematically underachieve in mathematics standardized tests. However, few studies have addressed the issue of inequity in mathematics education along racial lines. This article is aimed to initiate discussions within the mathematics education research community around this issue. In doing so, I analyze the relations between race, power and mathematics education in Colombia. The main purpose is to characterize the way in which dominant social representations over black communities enter into the system of practices of mathematics education to configure students' mathematical experiences, their identities, and learning outcomes. Based on theoretical developments of critical sociology, I use the notion of racial ideology (Bonilla-Silva, 2010) as an instrument for analyzing the narratives that two teachers convey to justify and explain the mathematics learning outcomes of black students in their classes. The results of the analysis indicate that teachers appeal to dominant representations of Blacks to position the students as incapable of developing mathematical thinking. Finally, I outline some lines of research that could contribute to strengthening the debate on the relationship among race, power and mathematics education in Colombia.

Keywords : race; racism; racial ideologies; power; mathematics education.

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