Racism and Empathy in the Math Classroom

Author: Arlene Vinion Dubiel

Several years ago, I conducted a science experiment in an elementary teacher’s classroom. The students were excited and there was quite a bit of activity. As the teacher maintained order, there was one student who was disciplined more than the others. The student’s infractions were not obvious, so I kept this student busy by asking him to help me. The day ended, the student volunteered to help me clean up, I thanked him, and I went home.

Flash forward to today. With the recent protests and increased awareness of racial inequality, I recalled that event and saw it in a new light. It was late in the school year and I had assumed, at the time, that this young boy had simply worn down the otherwise excellent teacher to the point of being overly sensitive. But I realize now that this student was the only black boy in the class. This makes me wonder about the unconscious racism that we may harbor and how that may affect our interactions with students.

Implicit Racial Bias

The recent protests promoting equality and justice have brought awareness to racism in all its ugly forms. There is obvious or explicit racism that has been made clear with the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, among many others. But there are also implicit biases that individuals may not be aware of having that can then lead to behaviors that harm others.

A study from Educational Researcher entitled “Teachers are People Too” and summarized in Education Week, describes the extent of racial bias in teachers as being the same as found in the general public. A staggering 77% of teachers have some measure of implicit pro-White/anti-Black bias. About 30% of teachers also have an explicit bias above zero. This bias, whether explicit or implicit and even if it is slight, may affect interactions with students.   

“This bias, whether explicit or implicit and even if it is slight, may affect interactions with students.   ”

Increasing Empathy

If we examine our conscience, we may find that we do harbor some implicit racial bias. But then what can we do about it? It helps to first develop empathy and one of the best ways to do that is to walk in someone else’s shoes using virtual reality (VR).

The event that I described at the beginning of this blog, is very similar to the first part of the “1000 Cut Journey.” This VR experience takes you through the life of a black man named Michael Sterling. With VR, you are able to experience, first hand, what it feels like when the teacher singles you out and punishes you for doing something that all the other children are doing. You sit in the corner and are left to wonder, “why me and why not them?”

Since the VR experience is not widely available, you can start by viewing the TED talk by Dr. Courtney Cogburn from Columbia University, the developer of the “1000 Cut Journey.” In this brief talk, she describes complex racism and how quantitative and qualitative data was used to construct the events found in “1000 Cut Journey” experience. The talk ends with the question of what would it take, now that you recognize the problem, for you to act.  

Addressing Racism in the Math Classroom

One action we can take is to educate ourselves and our students about racism. A recent Education Week blog by Sarah Schwartz and Madeline Will shares several free teacher resources to help foster discussions. For example, Chicago Public Schools recently released a teacher toolkit “to help foster productive conversations about race and civil disobedience.” While these resources are good for addressing subjects like history, civics, and literacy, we have to dig a little deeper for resources that specifically involve mathematics.

Black Lives Matter at School has a 2020 Curriculum Resource Guide filled with resources. Math-specific content can be found in the high school folder with lessons on probability and statistics on traffic stops. In the postsecondary/adult folder, there is a sheet listing math resources for the Black Lives Matter Week of Action. Teaching Tolerance also has several math and technology lesson plans for grades 3-12. The search tool is well-designed and the lesson descriptions can help you find exactly what you are looking for.

With awareness of implicit bias that can affect students comes the desire to make schools a place of equality for all. Developing empathy for those who have had experiences different from our own and using lesson plans that support awareness and tolerance are good places to start.

 Recognizing racial bias is the first step. Check out the 1000 Cut Journey and teaching resources that address racism and social justice, particularly for the math classroom. 

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