Journal Issue
At times, manuscripts that present possible conflicts of interest for the editorial team or for the Editorial Panel are submitted. On those occasions, we invite a guest editor (usually a former
| Victoria Jacobs | Janine Remillard | Natasha Speer |
| Keith Leatham | Alan Schoenfeld | Rose Mary |
Percival G. Matthews, Patricio Herbst, Sandra Crespo, and Erin K. Lichtenstein
The journal issue you are holding in your hands (figuratively speaking) looks a bit different than our usual ones. Like the March 2022 issue, all its articles center equity-focused research in mathematics education. Yet unlike the March issue, the current issue features only one Research Report, a piece of historical research by Sian Zelbo, documenting the life and work of E. J. Edmunds, an Afro-Creole mathematician and educator active in Louisiana during the tumultuous period after the American Civil War. The other pieces are three Research Commentaries by
Sian E. Zelbo
This article describes a historical case study of E. J. Edmunds, a Black mathematics student and teacher in 19th-century New Orleans. Edmunds’s career as a student and then teacher of mathematics, which stretched from the antebellum era through Reconstruction and into segregation, was filled with obstacles and indignities but also with improbable successes. Edmunds proved to be among the world’s top mathematical talents in 1871 by passing the grueling admissions exam for France’s École Polytechnique. The purpose of the present article is to examine the implications that this historically rare example of Black mathematical achievement in the 19th century has for metanarratives of Black obstacles and achievement in mathematics education.
Luz Valoyes-Chávez and Lisa Darragh
This Research Commentary draws on the articles in the March 2022 issue of JRME, engaging with the notion of labor as a key concept to push the field toward novel understandings of equity in mathematics education. We introduce the concepts of identity work and racialized emotions to provide an alternative reading of the articles in that issue, arguing that attention to the interplay of these two concepts is vital to consider issues of equity because mathematics identity intersects with race, gender, class, and sexuality, among other social identities historically marginalized in the classroom. We argue that a focus on such interplay could help to revitalize the discourse on equity in mathematics education across the globe.
Nicole Louie and Wan-Yue Zhan
This Research Commentary responds to the March 2022 issue of JRME. To discuss the four articles in the issue across their diverse approaches to equity, the authors propose a socio-ecological framework for mapping research in mathematics education. The framework focuses on the layers of social activity that each study addresses, both analytically and with respect to implications. Using their analysis of the articles in the issue, the authors identify strengths in mathematics education research and areas in which more work is needed.
Rochelle Gutiérrez
The practice of futurity within Indigenous communities has existed since time immemorial, with past, present, and future intertwined and with a focus on (re)membering and healing. As futurity becomes more popular in mainstream venues, it raises questions about how it will affect mathematics education (research). This Commentary makes an argument for desire-based research frameworks and Indigenous futurity praxis as key components of a spiritual turn, somewhat distinct from the sociopolitical turn our field took about a decade ago. I analyze some of the equity issues that arose in the March 2022 issue of JRME, raise three important questions to consider in our research, and offer suggestions so that we may embrace a spiritual turn.
Journal Issue
Jen Munson, Geetha Lakshminarayanan, and Thomas J. Rodney
Off You Go is a PK–12 mathematical routine that leverages children’s home resources and assets to support them in developing conceptual precision. We provide a guide for how to adapt this routine to engage students at any grade in argumentation and attending to precision.
Ruthmae Sears
This article describes how visual representations can help develop students’ reasoning and proof skills.
