Incorporating climate justice mathematics lessons for middle school teachers

: Teacher education inherently has a social justice mission to prepare and empower teachers to teach students with a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences. Teaching mathematics for social justice connects mathematical concepts with students’ cultures and communities, empowers students to identify and solve real-world challenges, and helps students learn that mathematics is a tool that can be used for social change. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and engaging students in understanding climate justice issues is imperative. At our university, the Problem Solving for Teachers course is cross-listed as a required mathematics course for undergraduate students majoring in middle school education and an optional graduate course for in-service teachers. In this course, students solve problems through the lens of social justice mathematics lessons. In a mixed methods analysis, we discuss students’ qualitative work on two climate justice mathematics lessons and changes in their beliefs to teach for social justice as measured by a quantitative survey during the semester in which the course is offered.