Quantitative Civic Composing for Imagination, Action, and Freedom: A Social Design-Based Experiment in Mathematics and English Language Arts

Emma Gargroetzi

This study brings together Humanities and STEM teachers from three schools located across diverse geopolitical contexts to explore, design, and implement learning units that combine literary and mathematical practices for the purpose of civic learning and social problem solving. Drawing on teacher inquiry and case study methodologies, the research is conceived as a social design-based experiment with the purpose of illuminating new possibilities for youth and schools in building an anti-oppressive and inclusive democracy. Bringing together theory and practice contributed through research in critical literacy, mathematics for social justice, and youth civic composing, the study takes a critical sociocultural approach to exploring youth identities and participation as civic actors in unprecedented times. The research will contribute insight into the possibilities and challenges of schools, especially language arts and math classrooms, as sites of civic imagination. The project is driven by the hypothesis that transdisciplinary collaboration between Humanities and STEM educators locally and across sites, supported through a critical teacher learning community, may open new avenues for youth identities and engagement in literacy, mathematics, and civic life.

About Emma Gargroetzi

Emma Gargroetzi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at University of Texas at Austin (as of June, 2022). Inspired by fifteen years of working with young people in New York City, Latin America, and California?s Bay Area, Emma?s research focuses on identity, power, and educational justice in the mathematical lives of children and youth. Her ongoing work examines the use of quantitative reasoning in youth civic composing and the possibilities for educational dignity in mathematics learning environments. Emma received her PhD from Stanford University with a dual focus in race, inequality, and language in education and in mathematics education. She also holds an MA from Columbia University Teachers College in peace education, an MS from Brooklyn College in teaching students with disabilities, and a BA in political science from Vassar College.