1. Curate Critical Conversations Through Data
To mobilize students, teachers, and communities for justice, they must first engage in conversations about the world around them. Use real-world data to spark discussions about pressing social issues—economic disparity, environmental justice, educational funding gaps, or racial inequities.
Activity Idea: Have students analyze local school funding data, comparing resource allocation between districts. Use proportional reasoning and statistics to examine disparities and discuss what fair funding should look like.
Why it Works: Data creates a concrete foundation for critical conversations, allowing students, teachers, and communities to see patterns, ask questions, and develop informed perspectives.
2. Use Mathematics to Elicit Student, Teacher, and Community-Led Solutions to Challenges
Students, teachers, and communities should not only critique the world but also envision solutions using math. Frame real-world problems as design challenges where they use mathematics to create actionable solutions.
Activity Idea: Introduce a challenge related to housing inequality—students can investigate rent costs, calculate affordability based on local wages, and propose equitable housing policies using percentages and linear models.
Why it Works: When students, teachers, and communities respond to challenges mathematically, they become problem solvers who see math as a tool for advocacy and not just an abstract discipline.
3. Harness Student, Teacher, and Community Aspirations for Justice and Thriving
Students, teachers, and communities come to the classroom with dreams, frustrations, and lived experiences that shape how they see the world. Leverage their passions by integrating projects that align with their aspirations for justice, innovation, and thriving communities.
Activity Idea: Have students collect data on food access in their neighborhoods, then use algebraic modeling to propose solutions for improving food distribution or access to fresh produce in underserved areas.
Why it Works: Students, teachers, and communities feel ownership when their math learning is rooted in their lives and aspirations, leading to deeper engagement and critical agency.
4. Teach Budgeting and Financial Literacy for Community Impact
Money is power, and understanding financial systems is crucial for justice. Teaching financial literacy through real-world budget modeling helps students, teachers, and communities advocate for resource allocation and community growth.
Activity Idea: Have students design a budget for a youth center, ensuring that all operational costs are met while maximizing funding for programming that supports local kids. Encourage them to present their budgets as proposals to a mock city council.
Why it Works: Math becomes a tangible tool for economic justice, helping students, teachers, and communities apply financial principles to shape their environments.
5. Curate Outcomes That Reflect Personal, Collective, and Community Impact
Mathematics should not exist in isolation. The final step in Mobilizing for Critical Agency and Impact with Math is helping students, teachers, and communities curate outcomes—that is, designing projects where they use math to track impact, measure progress, and drive real change.
Activity Idea: Students choose a local issue, such as the impact of pollution or racial wage gaps, then develop a campaign that includes data visualizations, statistical arguments, and mathematical modeling to support their call for change.
Why it Works: Students, teachers, and communities see their work as part of a larger movement, reinforcing that mathematics is a tool for shaping their futures and their communities.
How are you using math to mobilize for change in your classroom and community? Want to continue more learning. Visit https://institute.inspiremath.org or email info@inspiremath.org