ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests strategies and activities that teachers of mathematics may use to empower linguistically and culturally diverse students to learn mathematics within the contexts of culture and social justice. Language diversity has been addressed through professional development. Teaching English to speakers of other languages “asserts the need teachers to have a solid knowledge of theory and research on second-language acquisition and the ability to use this knowledge in supporting the language, literacy, and content-area learning of English language learners”. Many factors contribute to ethnically and linguistically diverse students’ academic performance in school, including teacher expectations. Learning mathematics within a social justice context allows students to develop sociopolitical consciousness, or conscientizacao , which is a necessary tool to fight for equity and social justice. Teachers should become familiar with their students’ culture and understand their values and beliefs in order to develop appropriate culturally specific examples to enhance learning in the mathematics classroom.
