Big Idea Talk and Play: Co-Discovering the Power of Open-Ended Math Exploration

RJEM at Work highlights the everyday efforts of caregivers, community organizations, teachers, researchers, and educational institutions to promote racial justice in the mathematical experiences of children. For the RJEM Local Planning Committee, there are multiple ways to foster racial justice in early mathematics. As such, RJEM at Work aims to showcase a diverse set of practices. By doing so, we hope not only to share interesting work but also to inspire action at different levels and points of entry in the area of early mathematics education.

Dr. Rebecca Anne Swartz, Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville, shared with us her experiences at the Let’s Talk Math Project – a project intended to re-envision a math pedagogy course for teacher candidates. Countering mainstream deficit-oriented perspectives that position students as passive learners, Let’s Talk Math positions both teacher candidates and their students, especially those of historically marginalized communities, as producers of knowledge who are curious and fully capable of learning.