Highlighting how secondary math teacher leaders in Guam and Saipan help to sustain culture through mathematical instruction
摘要
This qualitative multiple case study explores how secondary mathematics teacher leaders in Guam and Saipan leverage culturally sustaining pedagogy to advance mathematics equity for students in Micronesia. Grounded in an understanding of equity as fairness and differentiated support, this research highlights how culturally sustaining mathematics instruction can affirm students’ identities, honor community knowledge, and challenge Eurocentric curriculum traditions. Guided by frameworks of culturally sustaining pedagogy, critical mathematics education, and teacher agency, the study focuses on four award-winning secondary mathematics teachers recognized for their leadership in equitable practice. Findings reveal that participants incorporated local culture in varied ways, from embedding Micronesian histories, languages, and traditional practices into lessons, to fostering participation structures attentive to gender and cultural dynamics, and designing community-centered mathematics projects. Despite constraints from dominant math curricula, math teacher leaders enacted professional agency to adapt instruction and sustain community-rooted mathematical knowledge. These results confirm and extend prior work on culturally sustaining pedagogy by providing empirical insights from a Micronesian context, where such studies are scarce. The study further identifies teacher leadership as a key lever for sustaining equity-focused reforms, supporting calls to center Indigenous knowledge and cultural strengths in mathematics education. Implications include the need for ongoing professional development that empowers teachers to enact culturally sustaining practices, as well as policy supports that enable teacher-led innovation.