Practicing and Future Secondary Teachers’ Challenges with Designing Mathematics for Social Justice Lesson Plans

We build on previous studies that explore the challenges faced by current and future teachers as they learn to teach mathematics for social justice by focusing on a precursor to teaching lessons, that is, the process of lesson design. Specifically, in this study we investigate the challenges that current and future teachers identify in their design of lessons and how they navigate those challenges. Using deductive analysis, we examine the written reflections of 11 current and future teachers enrolled in a secondary mathematics methods course in the spring of 2021. Findings indicate that participants experienced challenges in the cognitive, affective, social, and structural domains and resolved those challenges utilizing social, affective, and cognitive resolutions. These findings inform the field of mathematics teacher education by identifying areas where current and future teachers may need support in their design of social justice mathematics lessons.