How Equity Concerns Lead to Attention to Mathematical Discourse

This chapter examines the connections between equity and mathematical discourse and explores how discourse is relevant to equity. Through commentary on the preceding three chapters, I discuss four issues raised by different approaches to equity and to discourse: multiple approaches to equity, definitions of ‘discourse’, aspects of school discourse practices, and challenges with ethno-mathematical approaches. Next, I summarize what research tells us about equitable discourse practices for students from non-dominant communities in mathematics classrooms. In closing, I use the four chapters and my own work (Moschkovich, Language(s) and learning mathematics: Resources, challenges, and issues for research. In Moschkovich, J. (Ed.), Language and mathematics education: Multiple perspectives and directions for research (pp. 1–28). Charlotte: Information Age Publishing, 2010) to make recommendations for future research.

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