Staff Development for Multicultural Education in Mathematics.

Overview & Synopsis

A fertile area for the improvement of mathematics achievement in the United States is in staff development for multicultural education. Multicultural mathematics is best defined by what it is not; it is not ethnomathematics, nor simply Afrocentrism or Eurocentrism. Multicultural mathematics furthers the multicultural goals of the school system because it shows minority students that all social groups have contributed to the body of knowledge they learn in mathematics class. Preservice education for teachers is the best opportunity to introduce a multicultural perspective on mathematics. Multicultural mathematics education should be taught in inservice programs as well. Regardless of the depth of instruction necessary to acquaint teachers with multicultural mathematics, the important ingredient is a commitment to inclusion. Problem solving in mathematics provides an opportunity to pose problems from many cultures that highlight many social groups. National standards efforts do not always address multicultural approaches directly, but they do encourage the inclusion of all cultures. Inservice education offerings must also be locally relevant, with emphasis on the cultural groups served. (SLD)