Engaging Prospective Teachers in Socio-Critical Issues Through Statistical Modeling

Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice (TMSJ) encourages prospective teachers (PTs) to use mathematics to examine social inequities and develop critical awareness. While statistical modeling is increasingly recognized as a powerful approach for exploring social issues, yet little is known about how PTs engage in such issues through modeling. This study examined 15 PTs engaged with socio-critical issues as they worked with open civic data set on U.S. education using Common Online Data Analysis Platform (CODAP) and constructed statistical models in a pedagogy of mathematical modeling course. Using grounded theory analysis of 25 hours of small-group discussions and associated artifacts, we developed a framework of three categories to characterize the ways PTs engaged in socio-critical issues through statistical modeling: (1) foundational and critical understanding of data through a social lens, (2) personal and societal meaning-making, and (3) socio-critical evaluation and inquiry. This framework can inform teacher preparation and classroom practice in connection with the TMSJ implementation and provides a tool for future research on socio-critical engagement in K-12 classrooms.