Primary school teachers tackling social justice issues whilst teaching mathematics: Findings from the Primary Maths & Social Justice research project

We report on initial findings from the Primary Maths and Social Justice (PMSJ) research project which we carried out in 2021-22. We adopted a model of participatory action research in working collaboratively with a team of six teacher researchers from two primary schools in Greater London. The main aims were to explore how primary school teachers can maintain and build on their initial interest in addressing social justice issues through their teaching of mathematics, and to consider how to help students develop their critical understanding of mathematics and collective mathematical agency. We present and discuss three themes that emerged from the thematic analysis of transcripts from research team meetings and interviews with the teacher researchers: teachers’ appreciation that young children can engage with mathematics and social justice; teachers’ varying and developing relationships with mathematics; and students growing appreciation of how mathematics can be used to argue collectively for change.