Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Interrogating Innate Intelligence Racial Narratives: Students’ Construction of Counter-Stories within the History of Mathematics

  • Published:
International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper utilizes poststructural theory to analyze student artifacts that were collected from a history of mathematics course. The course was designed to counter three types of mathematical narratives, relating to: 1) race, 2) intelligence, and 3) innateness. To address these narratives, the course highlighted the contributions of communities of color and other minoritized populations in the historical development of mathematics. It also explicitly challenged dominant constructions of mathematical history and problematized their use to further the power and privilege of particular groups. Analyses of student artifacts showed that this course provided space for students to defy innate intelligence racial narratives and strengthen their own counter-stories.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

N/A

Code Availability

N/A

Notes

  1. The term microaggressions is widely used but also sometimes contested, as the prefix micro implies that they are small. Others use terms such as micro-level aggressions, or Racial Battle Fatigue, to better capture this complex racialized experience (e.g., Smith et al., 2007).

  2. Pascal’s triangle is called Tartaglia’s triangle in Italy. Differences in attributions of mathematical ideas also exist between Western mathematicians, but the central argument here is that many ideas from non-Western mathematicians are attributed to Western mathematicians, which creates a skewed perception of mathematics.

  3. CK Raju has accused the author of plagiarizing his work on the history of mathematics. This led to an erratum/acknowledgement: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/indians-predated-newton-discovery-by-250-years/.

References

  • Alderton, J., & Gifford, S. (2018). Teaching mathematics to lower attainers: Dilemmas and discourses. Research in Mathematics Education, 20(1), 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/14794802.2017.1422010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Au, W. (2014). Hiding behind high-stakes testing: Meritocracy, objectivity and inequality in US education. International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, 12(2), 7–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bamberg, M., & Georgakopoulou, A. (2008). Small stories as a new perspective in narrative and identity analysis. Text & Talk, 28(3), 377–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, J. H., Lodder, J., & Pengelley, D. (2014). The Pedagogy of Primary Historical Sources in Mathematics: Classroom Practice Meets Theoretical Frameworks. Science & Education, 23(1), 7–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-013-9618-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Battey, D., & Leyva, L. A. (2016). A framework for understanding whiteness in mathematics education. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 9(2).

  • Boaler, J. (2013). Ability and Mathematics: The mindset revolution that is reshaping education. Forum, 55(1), 143. https://doi.org/10.2304/forum.2013.55.1.143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canning, E. A., Muenks, K., Green, D. J., & Murphy, M. C. (2019). STEM faculty who believe ability is fixed have larger racial achievement gaps and inspire less student motivation in their classes. Science Advances, 5(2), eaau4734. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau4734

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, P. L., Skiba, R., Arredondo, M. I., & Pollock, M. (2017). You Can’t Fix What You Don’t Look At: Acknowledging Race in Addressing Racial Discipline Disparities. Urban Education, 52(2), 207–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916660350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cosby, M. D. (2020). No Black Girls Allowed: A Poststructural Analysis of Controlling Images in Black Girls’ Undergraduate Mathematics Learning Experiences [Ph.D., Michigan State University]. https://search.proquest.com/docview/2407596350/abstract/2EB49B2D94DC4589PQ/1

  • Crenshaw, K. (1990). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crockett, Z. (2016). The Time Everyone “Corrected” the World’s Smartest Woman. Priceonomics. http://priceonomics.com/the-time-everyone-corrected-the-worlds-smartest/

  • D’Ambrosio, U., & Rosa, M. (2017). Ethnomathematics and Its pedagogical action in mathematics education. In M. Rosa, L. Shirley, M. E. Gavarette, & W. V. Alangui (Eds.), Ethnomathematics and its Diverse Approaches for Mathematics Education.Springer International Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, B., & Harré, R. (1990). Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 20(1), 43–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delgado, R. (1989). Storytelling for Oppositionists and Others: A Plea for Narrative. Michigan Law Review, 87(8), 2411–2441. https://doi.org/10.2307/1289308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubbs, C. (2016). A queer turn in mathematics education research: Centering the experience of marginalized queer students. In M. B. Wood, E. E. Turner, M. Civil, & J. A. Eli (Eds.), Proceedings of the 38th annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 1041–1048). The University of Arizona.

  • Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellsworth, E. (1989). Why Doesn’t This Feel Empowering? Working Through the Repressive Myths of Critical Pedagogy. Harvard Educational Review, 59(3), 297–325. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.59.3.058342114k266250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ernest, J. B., Reinholz, D. L., & Shah, N. (2019). Hidden competence: Women’s mathematical participation in public and private classroom spaces. Educational Studies in Mathematics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-019-09910-w

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ernest, P. (1992). The nature of mathematics: Towards a social constructivist account. Science & Education, 1(1), 89–100. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00430212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farber, S. A. (2008). U.S. Scientists’ Role in the Eugenics Movement (1907–1939): A Contemporary Biologist’s Perspective. Zebrafish, 5(4), 243–245. https://doi.org/10.1089/zeb.2008.0576

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. Pantheon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1982). The subject and power. In H. Dreyfus & P. Rabinow (Eds.), Michel Foucault: Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics (pp. 208–226). University of Chicago Press.

  • Gandz, S. (1926). The Origin of the term “Algebra.” The American Mathematical Monthly, 33(9), 437–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, N. M., López, N., & Vélez, V. N. (2018). QuantCrit: Rectifying quantitative methods through critical race theory. Race Ethnicity and Education, 21(2), 149–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1377675

  • Gee, J. P. (2014). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gholson, M. L. (2016). Clean Corners and Algebra: A Critical Examination of the Constructed Invisibility of Black Girls and Women in Mathematics. The Journal of Negro Education, 85(3), 290–301. JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.85.3.0290

  • Guerrero, L. E. M. (2018). Cycles, Mars, moon and Maya numbers. Journal of Mathematics and Culture, 12(1), 47–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez, R. (2017). Political conocimiento for teaching mathematics: Why teachers need it and how to develop it. In S. Kastberg, A. M. Tyminski, A. Lischka, & W. Sanchez (Eds.), Building support for scholarly practices in mathematics methods (pp. 11–38). Information Age Publishing.

  • Hahn, J. D. (2019). Male Scientist Claps Back at Trolls Who Tried to Discredit Female Colleague’s Role in Black Hole Photo. PEOPLE.Com. https://people.com/human-interest/male-scientist-claps-back-trolls-discredit-katie-bouman/

  • Hall, S. (1997). The work of representation. In S. Hall, J. Evans, & S. Nixon (Eds.), Representation (pp. 1–47). Sage.

  • Harel, G., & Sowder, L. (2007). Toward comprehensive perspectives on the learning and teaching of proof. In F. Lester (Ed.), Second handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 805–842). National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

  • Hooks, B. (2014). The will to change: Men, masculinity, and love. Atria Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hottinger, S. N. (2016). Inventing the mathematician: Gender, race, and our cultural understanding of mathematics. SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, G. G. (2011). The crest of the peacock: Non-European roots of mathematics. Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kokka, K. (2018). Healing-informed social justice mathematics: Promoting students’ sociopolitical consciousness and well-being in mathematics class. Urban Education, 0042085918806947. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085918806947

  • Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465–491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465

  • Lakatos, I. (1976). Proofs and refutations: The logic of mathematical discovery. Cambridge University Press.

  • Larnell, G. V., Boston, D., & Bragelman, J. (2014). The stuff of stereotypes: Toward unpacking identity threats amid African American students’ learning experiences. Journal of Education, 194(1).

  • Leyva, L. A., Quea, R., Weber, K., Battey, D., & López, D. (2020). Detailing Racialized and Gendered Mechanisms of Undergraduate Precalculus and Calculus Classroom Instruction. Cognition and Instruction, 0(0), 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2020.1849218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, D. B. (2019). Equity, inclusion, and antiblackness in mathematics education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 22(4), 459–478. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1592833

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGee, E. O., & Martin, D. B. (2011). “You Would Not Believe What I Have to Go Through to Prove My Intellectual Value!” Stereotype Management Among Academically Successful Black Mathematics and Engineering Students. American Educational Research Journal, 48(6), 1347–1389. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831211423972

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, C. W., Zwickl, B. M., Posselt, J. R., Silvestrini, R. T., & Hodapp, T. (2019). Typical physics Ph.D. admissions criteria limit access to underrepresented groups but fail to predict doctoral completion. Science Advances, 5(1), eaat7550. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat7550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nasir, N. S., & Shah, N. (2011). On defense: African American males making sense of racialized narratives in mathematics education. Journal of African American Males in Education, 2(1).

  • Needham, J. (1986). Science and Civilization in China,. (Vol. 3). Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nisbett, R. E. (2010). Intelligence and how to get it: Why schools and cultures count. Norton and Company Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noordenbos, G. (2002). Women in academies of sciences: From exclusion to exception. Women’s Studies International Forum, 25(1), 127–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-5395(02)00215-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oakes, J. (2005). Keeping track: How schools structure inequality. Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Picker, S. H., & Berry, J. S. (2000). Investigating pupils’ images of mathematicians. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 43(1), 65–94. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017523230758

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reinholz, D. L. (2018). Reflective Apprenticeship for Teaching and Learning Mathematical Proof. Journal of Research in STEM Education, 4(1), 68–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riedwig, C. (2005). Pythagoras: His life, teaching and influence (S. Rendall, C. Riedweg, & A. Schatzmann, Trans.). Cornell University Press.

  • Rosa, M., & Orey, D. C. (2011). Ethnomodeling: A Pedagogical Action for Uncovering Ethnomathematical Practices. Journal of Mathematical Modelling and Application, 1(3), 58–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosa, M., Shirley, L., Gavarrete, M. E., & Alangui, W. V. (Eds.). (2017). Ethnomathematics and its Diverse Approaches for Mathematics Education. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59220-6

  • Rosado Handdock, G. E. (1987). Husserl’s epistemology of mathematics and the foundation of platonism in mathematics. Husserl Studies, 4(2), 81–102. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00365248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenfeld, B. A. (1988). A history of non-Euclidean geometry. Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rossiter, M. W. (1982). Women scientists in America: Struggles and strategies to 1940. (Vol. 1). JHU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schubring, G., Cousquer, É., Fung, C.-I., Idrissi, A. E., Gispert, H., Heiede, T., Ismael, A., Jahnke, N., Lingard, D., Nobre, S., Philippou, G., de Carvalho, J. P., & Weeks, C. (2002). History of mathematics for trainee teachers. In J. Fauvel & J. Van Maanen (Eds.), History in Mathematics Education (Vol. 6, pp. 91–142). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47220-1_4

  • Selin, H., & D’Ambrosio, U. (Eds.). (2000). Mathematics across cultures (Vol. 2). Springer.

  • Shah, N. (2017). Race, Ideology, and Academic Ability: A Relational Analysis of Racial Narratives in Mathematics. Teachers College Record, 119(7), 1–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shah, N. (2019). “Asians Are Good at Math” Is Not a Compliment: STEM Success as a Threat to Personhood. Harvard Educational Review, 89(4), 661–686. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-89.4.661

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shah, N., & Leonardo, Z. (2016). Learning discourses of race and mathematics in classroom interaction: A poststructural perspective. In I. Esmonde & A. Booker (Eds.), Power and privilege in the learning sciences: Critical and sociocultural theories of learning (pp. 50–69). Routledge.

  • Simmons, N., & Chen, Y.-W. (2014). Using Six-word Memoirs to Increase Cultural Identity Awareness. Communication Teacher, 28(1), 20–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2013.839050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, S. (2006). Danica McKellar’s mathematical theorem. In Weekend Edition Sunday. NPR. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5201825

  • Singh, P. (1985). The so-called fibonacci numbers in ancient and medieval India. Historia Mathematica, 12(3), 229–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/0315-0860(85)90021-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sins Invalid. (2019). Skin, tooth, and bone: The basis of movement is our people (2nd ed.).

  • Skovsmose, O. (2008). Critical mathematics education for the future. In M. Niss (Ed.), ICME-10 Proceedings: Proceedings of the 10th International Congress on Mathematical Education (p. 20). IMFUFA.

  • Smith, W. A., Allen, W. R., & Danley, L. L. (2007). “Assume the Position . . . You Fit the Description”: Psychosocial Experiences and Racial Battle Fatigue Among African American Male College Students. American Behavioral Scientist, 51(4), 551–578. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764207307742

  • Solórzano, D. G., & Bernal, D. D. (2001). Examining Transformational Resistance Through a Critical Race and Latcrit Theory Framework: Chicana and Chicano Students in an Urban Context. Urban Education, 36(3), 308–342. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solórzano, D. G., & Yosso, T. J. (2002). Critical Race Methodology: Counter-Storytelling as an Analytical Framework for Education Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staats, C., Capatosto, K., Tenney, L., & Mamo, S. (2017). State of the science: Implicit bias review 2017. Ohio State University: Kirwan Institute. http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2017-SOTS-final-draft-02.pdf

  • Stinson, D. W. (2008). Negotiating Sociocultural Discourses: The Counter-Storytelling of Academically (and Mathematically) Successful African American Male Students. American Educational Research Journal, 45(4), 975–1010. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831208319723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoskopf, A. (2002). Echoes of a forgotten past: Eugenics, testing, and education reform. The Educational Forum, 66, 126–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suárez-Orozco, C., Casanova, S., Martin, M., Katsiaficas, D., Cuellar, V., Smith, N. A., & Dias, S. I. (2015). Toxic Rain in Class: Classroom Interpersonal Microaggressions. Educational Researcher, 44(3), 151–160. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X15580314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunderland, J. (2004). Gendered discourses. Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Volmink, J. (1994). Mathematics by all. In S. Lerman (Ed.), Cultural Perspectives on the Mathematics Classroom (pp. 51–67). Dordrecht.

  • Wai, J. (2012). Why Is It Socially Acceptable To Be Bad At Math? Psychology Today. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/finding-the-next-einstein/201203/why-is-it-socially-acceptable-be-bad-math

  • Wardley, P., & White, P. (2003). The arithmeticke project: A collaborative research study of the diffusion of Hindu-Arabic numerals. Family & Community History, 6(1), 5–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, T. (2018). Power in numbers: The rebel women of mathematics. Race Point Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeh, C., & Otis, B. (2019). Mathematics for Whom: Reframing and Humanizing Mathematics. Occasional Paper Series, 2019(41). https://educate.bankstreet.edu/occasional-paper-series/vol2019/iss41/8

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Cathery Yeh and Kari Kokka for their feedback on earlier drafts of the paper.

Funding

This material was partially supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1943146.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics & Statistics, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-7720, USA

    Daniel L. Reinholz

Authors
  1. Daniel L. Reinholz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel L. Reinholz.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval

This research was completed with approval from an Institutional Review Board.

Competing Interests

The author has no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This material was partially supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1943146.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Reinholz, D.L. Interrogating Innate Intelligence Racial Narratives: Students’ Construction of Counter-Stories within the History of Mathematics. Int. J. Res. Undergrad. Math. Ed. 8, 36–63 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40753-021-00145-w

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40753-021-00145-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation