DisCrit noticing: Theorizing at the intersections of race and ability in mathematics education

Abstract

While there is increased attention to power, privilege, and access in mathematics education, conversations around race and disability are often left out of the conversation. Disability in mathematics continues to be studied with a lens that focuses on behavior, rather than attending to the situated and sociopolitical context in which teaching and learning takes place. This paper specifically calls on the importance of an intersectional analysis of ability and the need for explicit conversation on the interwoven nature of race and disability to uncover exclusionary practices of hyper-labeling, hyper-surveilling, and hyper-punishing for those outside notions of normalcy. Drawing on sociopolitical perspectives informed by Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) and DisCrit Classroom Ecology, I share a framework of DisCrit noticing to consider the interwoven nature of racism and ableism in mathematics classrooms, provide a context to develop preservice teacher DisCrit noticing during mathematics methods, and a case example to highlight implications and transformative possibilities for (re)organizing classrooms through the DisCrit noticing framework.