Why Should Mathematics Educators Learn from and about Latina/o Students' In-School and Out-of-School Experiences?

have been studying the complexities of bridging in-school and out-of-school mathematics for quite a long time.My motivation for doing this work is grounded in my initial experiences with the Funds of Knowledge for Teaching (FKT) project (Gonzlez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005a) and has continued throughout the years as I have been working with largely low-income, Mexican American 1 communities in Tucson, Arizona.All throughout this time, I have raised questions related to connecting in-school and out-of-school mathematics (Civil, 2002(Civil, , 2007(Civil, , 2014)).These questions have to do with What is mathematics?Where is the mathematics?How are different mathematical practices valued, by whom, and where?In Civil (2014), I raise further questions about What is competence?What is the interplay between task, setting, and engagement? and How do languages (as in English and Spanish, for example) and affective elements interact when doing mathematics?In particular, I discuss these questions in relation to in-school and out-of-school settings.For example, the case of Alberto, a young immigrant student from Mexico, portrays a child who is seen as quite competent in his home/community environment, but not succeeding in the school environment (Civil, 2014;Civil & Andrade, 2002).What should we learn from this case?Why is this case relevant to our research and our teacher preparation efforts?I believe that mathematics educators (teachers, school administrators, university faculty, etc.) need to take a more holistic approach toward the mathematics education of students, and in particular of marginalized students.In this commentary, I expand upon this belief through the "voices" of several students and their parents with whom I have interacted over the years.But first I provide some general context for my research, in terms of who the participants are and how I approach my work.1 Here, I use the term Mexican American rather than Latina/o to more closely reflect the communities in which this work is located.