Explaining how racism can be locally disrupted in a mathematics classroom

In this paper i apply critical realism to investigate the relationship between a mathematics classroom and the broader social context in which it is inserted. Critical realism is combined with critical race theory to understand how mathematical instructional practices can locally challenge and/or disrupt racism. The data are from a mathematics “laboratory classroom” and are interpreted using the critical realist concept of “norm circles”. Results explain how three Black girls access mathematical knowledge, and how these girls participate in the distribution of authority in this classroom