The purpose of this session is to support teachers in teaching mathematics for social justice. We will start with a general introduction and generate some ideas about this work—its possibilities and challenges. Participants will then work on a “math for social justice” project in small groups, after which we will unpack it from the perspective of doing this work in the classroom and what students might learn, what questions they might have, and challenges for teachers.

We will conclude with an open discussion about:

• developing social justice curriculum (Whose ideas? Whose projects?);
• teaching social justice curriculum (challenges, possibilities, constraints); and
• participants’ questions, critiques, reactions, thoughts, ideas, and more.

Eric “Rico” Gutstein teaches mathematics education at the University of Illinois—Chicago. His work includes teaching mathematics for social justice, Freirean approaches to teaching and learning, critical and culturally relevant urban education, and (mathematics) education policy. He has taught middle and high school mathematics in Chicago public schools, is author of Reading and Writing the World with Mathematics: Toward a Pedagogy for Social Justice (Routledge, 2006), and co-editor of Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers (2nd Ed.) (Rethinking Schools, 2013).

Rico is also a founding member of Teachers for Social Justice (Chicago) and is active in social movements against education privatization.