Building on Mathematics Educational Values to Develop Culturally Sustaining Mathematics Pedagogy

Issues of equity in mathematics for Indigenous, migrant, and other minority communities are a key concern across many countries including New Zealand. This has led to calls to develop culturally sustaining mathematics pedagogy (CSMP) to address issues of access, achievement, identity, and power-relationships. This chapter uses an exemplary case study of one teacher and her classroom to examine the types of pedagogical approaches that build on the mathematics educational values of diverse students to develop culturally sustaining pedagogy in mathematics classrooms. The findings show how the teacher used both prompts and specific teacher actions that made implicit and explicit connections to mathematics educational values including family, respect, collaboration, reciprocity, inclusion, and belonging. A key finding is the importance of considering values as a key element of the development of CSMP.