Using Culturally Ambitious Teaching Practices to Support Urban Mathematics Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Culturally relevant pedagogy is an ideology upon which strong urban classrooms can be built. However, culturally relevant pedagogy has not been operationalized in a way that allows consistent implementation in classrooms. This work focuses on the conceptualization of culturally ambitious teaching practices (CATP) in mathematics that exemplify the tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy – academic achievement, cultural competence, and critical consciousness – with those of ambitious mathematics teaching practices. This paper will describe the findings of the initial work of developing and operationalizing CATP in mathematics through a quantitative and qualitative analysis.