Issues of culture in mathematics teaching and learning

Public education of America's students has for over a century provided educational opportunities to students using cultural traditions and theories of learning based on the dominant or majority population. Students who were members of or who were acculturated into the dominant culture were generally successful in mathematics. Others were left behind. This article demonstrates through theory and application that educators can teach mathematics to include more of the excluded students, especially African-American students. Educators must consider the culture of our students as we adopt an accommodating cultural pedagogy - one that gives the students the power to be a part of the mathematics culture as they use the familiar knowledge (which becomes power) of their culture. © 1998 Human Sciences Press, Inc.