Multicultural literature and math education

Frank D’Angelo, assistant professor of early childhood and adolescent education, has co-authored an article for Teaching Children Mathematics — an official journal of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. His collaborator on the piece is Nevin Iliev, an ESL teacher and graduate student in elementary education at Bloomsburg University. Their article, entitled “Teaching Mathematics through Multicultural Literature,” discusses the importance and benefits of incorporating culturally relevant texts into mathematics lessons, especially as classrooms increasingly reflect the diverse nature of our society.

D’Angelo and Iliev argue that multicultural literature that focuses on mathematics and features familiar concepts, such as counting, enables children to move beyond their current knowledge base, forge culturally relevant mathematical connections, and understand from an early age that math concepts are universal in nature. In this way, the integration of multicultural literature into the classroom fosters more globally aware students.

If you would like to learn more, the full article can be found here: http://www.nctm.org/publications/article.aspx?id=41299