“Math Is…”: Disrupting Deficit Narratives Through Caregivers Voices
Abstract
Mathematics has long been positioned as a fixed, apolitical domain within education. I analyzed a dataset of over 100 words contributed by caregivers participating in a university-based Saturday STEM enrichment program with aims to increase the number of underrepresented students taking Algebra 1 in middle school, who were asked to list five words they associated with mathematics. Using a thematic analysis of these responses, I analyzed the responses. Patterns of tension between empowerment and exclusion, joy and anxiety, utility and stigma. Caregivers used words such as fun, opportunity, problem-solving, and money, which reflected aspirational views of math as a pathway to success and security. In contrast, terms like panic, avoidance, tricky, and stigmatized exposed the psychological and cultural burdens often inherited from prior generations’ experiences with math education. I contend that math curriculum itself has been historically interrupted—by inequitable access, procedural teaching practices, and culturally unresponsive pedagogies. By illuminating the affective and experiential dimensions of math from the perspective of caregivers, this research argues that curriculum should be reconfigured not only to teach mathematical content but also to acknowledge and disrupt the emotional narratives that accompany it. This work aligns with the conference theme by reimagining curriculum as a space for healing, identity, and equity—especially for Black and Brown students and families who have too often been excluded from the joys and possibilities of mathematics. In doing so, it invites educators to disrupt what math has been, to dream what it might become.
Presentation Description
N/A
Location
Room 2
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Gilbert, Renee, "“Math Is…”: Disrupting Deficit Narratives Through Caregivers Voices" (2025). Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative. 8.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cssc/2025/2025/8
“Math Is…”: Disrupting Deficit Narratives Through Caregivers Voices
Room 2
Mathematics has long been positioned as a fixed, apolitical domain within education. I analyzed a dataset of over 100 words contributed by caregivers participating in a university-based Saturday STEM enrichment program with aims to increase the number of underrepresented students taking Algebra 1 in middle school, who were asked to list five words they associated with mathematics. Using a thematic analysis of these responses, I analyzed the responses. Patterns of tension between empowerment and exclusion, joy and anxiety, utility and stigma. Caregivers used words such as fun, opportunity, problem-solving, and money, which reflected aspirational views of math as a pathway to success and security. In contrast, terms like panic, avoidance, tricky, and stigmatized exposed the psychological and cultural burdens often inherited from prior generations’ experiences with math education. I contend that math curriculum itself has been historically interrupted—by inequitable access, procedural teaching practices, and culturally unresponsive pedagogies. By illuminating the affective and experiential dimensions of math from the perspective of caregivers, this research argues that curriculum should be reconfigured not only to teach mathematical content but also to acknowledge and disrupt the emotional narratives that accompany it. This work aligns with the conference theme by reimagining curriculum as a space for healing, identity, and equity—especially for Black and Brown students and families who have too often been excluded from the joys and possibilities of mathematics. In doing so, it invites educators to disrupt what math has been, to dream what it might become.
