Lesley Dookie

In this article, the authors investigate group work in a heterogeneous urban high school mathematics classroom. Two questions are explored: How do students describe cooperative group work in their mathematics class? How do students describe the way their socially constructed identities influence the nature of their group interactions in mathematics classrooms? The authors present a case study of the ways in which race, gender, and other social identities might influence the nature of group work in reform-oriented high school mathematics classrooms. The analysis, based on 14 interviews with high school students, focused on students’ perceptions of group work and their theories about when cooperative groups work well and when they do not. Students named interactional style, mathematical understanding, and friendships and relationships as the most influential factors. Using an analytic lens informed, in part, by critical race theory, the authors highlight the racialized and gendered na...

The impact of racial stereotypes is broad and negative and serves to further marginalize racially stigmatized groups. Contributing to the development and perpetuation of these stereotypes are the underlying misconceptions about the notion of race. Rather than being seen as the complex social construction it is, race is often viewed as an inherited and diagnostic trait and influences social categorization. Racial stereotypes, for instance, lead people to make misguided judgments and assumptions about members of racial groups. Mere exposure to racial stereotypes is sufficient to influence social interactions and, because classroom environments mirror our broader social worlds, teachers and students are susceptible to their impact. The following discussion will address the misconceptions around the concept of race, how they perpetuate racial stereotypes, and the implications thereof in the context of teaching and student academic achievement.

During collaborative group work, students from non-dominant social groups can be positioned by classmates in ways that hinder their opportunities to learn and become successful mathematics students. Drawing from an episode of videotaped collaborative group work, this qualitative case study examines the microdynamics of positioning and, using a stimulated recall interview technique, explores how a girl who was working with a group of boys identifies, interprets, and explains these moment-to-moment acts of positioning. The findings point to the strength of this methodological triangulation by further elucidating verbal and non-verbal forms of positioning. Specifically, the results illustrate how the focal student was prevented access to shared learning artifacts and group discussion due to her group members’ (likely unintended) ‘exclusive talk’ and ‘physical blocks’. Whether and how the observed acts of positioning are associated with social categories (i.e., gender) are discussed and...

Within cultural-historical learning theories, recent research has focused on the practice-linked (i.e., contextual) nature of identity. In this paper, we argue that while the concept of practice-linked identities represents a significant advance, this understanding of identity is limited because it cannot account for broad systemic issues of power and privilege. We integrate insights from Critical Race Theory and Queer Theory to develop a more nuanced understanding of identity development. In recent years, learning scientists have begun to theorize the close connection between identity development and learning. Contemporary cultural-historical learning theories have replaced static conceptions of identity with a conception of identity as fluid, context-based, and linked to the practices in which people participate. (We use the term cultural-historical learning theories and the acronym, CHL, to refer to a broad set of theories, rooted in the work of Vygotsky (e.g., 1978), that consid...

When students work together on collaborative tasks, they typically have unequal influence over group decisions. This paper builds on the Differential Influence framework developed by Engle, Langer-Osuna and McKinney de Royston to consider the powerful role of artifacts in group work. Specially, we argue that if a student has greater influence over a shared artifact developed by the group, then they may have greater Perceived Authority as well as Access to the Conversational Floor and Interactional Space. They may also be able to influence the group’s collaborative decisions despite challenges to the Perceived Merit of their ideas. Based on the impact of the shared learning artifact on these interdependent dimensions, we discuss how a student’s power and influence is perpetuated in collaborative group work. The construction of influence in mathematical group work When collaborative group work is used in school contexts, the work is rarely equally distributed. Some students do the bul...

Mathematics learning is documented as being racialized and gendered. Power dynamics between students from various social groups can become particularly problematic during collaborative group work when students from dominant social groups position group members from stereotyped social groups in ways that hinder their opportunities to learn. The present study seeks to investigate how marginalization unfolds during everyday interpersonal interactions within mathematical group work and how students from stereotyped social groups talk about these experiences. Employing an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that cuts across the fields of the learning sciences and social psychology, this qualitative study aims to further understand not only the sociohistorical stereotypes and systems of power that are entrenched within mathematics classrooms, but also how power is constructed through the ways students position one another in their moment-to-moment interactions. Drawing from six episod...