Addressing Dehumanizing Mathematical Practices: Using Supervisory Leaders’ Experiential Knowledge to Transform the Mathematics Classroom

Deficit language concerning historically marginalized students pervades much of education today. Black, Brown, and Indigenous children experience marginalization and dehumanizing practices in classrooms instead of participating in a safe space to learn and grow. For this paper we employ a crucial component from Critical Race Theory to address systemic racism in schools: we listen to the lived experiences of professionals of color. These personal narratives open avenues for social justice through critiquing current and historical political, economic, and sociocultural practices and policies. This study examined how four Black collaborators – one high school principal, one middle school principal, one elementary principal, and one special education teacher – each with decades of instructional experience, address four key dehumanizing practices students of color experience in classrooms across the country in their own supervision practices.