Girls’ Perception of Social Justice in Mathematics Classroom

Abstract

This study focused on “Girls‟ Perception of Social Justice in Mathematics Classroom”. The objectives of this study were to explore the girls‟ perception of social justice, to find out the challenges faced by the teachers to maintain social justice and to find out the strategies for reducing the challenges of maintaining social justice in mathematics classroom. In dealing with such objectives, I applied interpretive qualitative research design and ethnography approach to explore the multiple realities through the methods of open-ended interview, observation and as a research tools. Five girl students were selected from the Central Department of Education, Department of Mathematics Education Kirtipur , Kathmandu through purposive sampling. Three mathematics teachers and two Math educators were also selected as a sample of this study. The data analysis went through multiple layers of thematic analysis and interpretations of narratives from interview data. The collected data were analyzed with the help of theories and related literatures. I found that girls understand social justice in mathematics classroom as equity, equality, fairness, social process and caring marginal students. Teachers seemed to provide equal opportunities and access to their students to socially just classroom. The challenges for creating socially just classroom include: diverse students, gender gap, cultural differences, insufficient teaching materials, student absenteeism, different interests of students and marginal students. Thus, the teachers need to apply different strategies such as counseling, group work, linking mathematics on daily life, enjoyment, demonstration and encouragement for reducing the challenges to maintain social justice in mathematics classroom. Such strategies are likely to give new and practical ways to understand the issues of social justice in mathematics classroom. Also make the mathematics classroom more inclusive and justifiable.