Addressing Sexism and Associated Gender Injustices Through Social Justice Mathematics Curricula

Patriarchal and sexist discourses have limiting and negative influences on ideologies about sex and gender, personal and social identities, social practices, power relations, interpersonal relationships, and other aspects of being human, in Western democracies like Canada and the United States of America. Using different types of mathematics as interpretive tools has the potential to deepen adolescents' understanding of social injustices that are informed by patriarchal and sexist discourses. Two social justice mathematics (SJM) curricula for middle school students, and one SJM curriculum for Grade 9 students, were analyzed in this study using Michelle Lazar's (2005) principles for conducting feminist critical discourse analysis, as well as an analytical method that was adapted from James Gee's (2011) method for carrying out discourse analysis. The findings of this project give insight into what should be considered by SJM educators who would like to design SJM curricula that can specifically support students' development of a revolutionary feminist consciousness regarding sexism and associated gender injustices. Based on the findings common to all three SJM curricula, several implications related to SJM curriculum development, as well as research about it, emerged.