The Importance of Communities for Mathematics Learning and Socialization

espite myths to the contrary, students attending urban schools are interested in learning and in mathematics, and they have communities and networks that are committed to their education and mathematics development. Too often, particularly for Black and Latina/o students, these networks and communities have gone unnoticed and unacknowledged—and, in fact, are often disregarded and denigrated as not essential to students’ academic success. In much of my work and research with schools and students, I have placed at the forefront students’ voices and experiences, because these are so often missing from research discussions about teaching and learning. While it is important to consider the role of school-based learning communities (namely, the valuable relationships and interactions between students and teachers, primarily, but also extending to counselors and administrators) in students’ learning, it is also important to value—and to further capitalize upon—the rich learning communities that young people may have outside of school. One story from a research project exploring the formative, educational, and professional experiences of Black mathematicians (Walker, 2014) demonstrates the power of an extended learning community. Nathaniel Long (a pseudonym) grew up in Pittsburgh, and lived on a street where there were close familial and intergenerational ties: