Geometry, groceries, and gardens: Learning mathematics and social justice through a nested, equity-directed instructional approach

We addressed the call for explorations of how BIPOC students’ “experiences in secondary mathematics classrooms might advance transformative, equity-focused, pedagogical models” (Joseph et al., 2019, p. 149) by exploring how a nested, equity-directed approach created different kinds of opportunities for students to take up, shift, or resist what it means to teach, learn, and do mathematics. Specifically, we looked at efforts to engage equity-directed dominant and critical approaches through a series of three mathematics projects aimed at investigating food insecurity as a social (in)justice issue using geometry. Our analysis focused on a subset of data generated during three projects from different times of the year. Findings revealed that the teacher more readily enacted critical equity-directed practices than dominant ones; that students more readily embraced those critical practices; and that students expected their use of mathematics and exploration of social issues to align with authentic, real-world situations.