Towards a Theory of Complex Mathematical Personhood: Math Teachers of Color in the Workplace

This qualitative study examines the experiences of veteran mathematics teachers of color who choose to remain in the profession despite systemic racial and structural barriers. Veteran is defined as a teacher who has been in the profession for 5 or more years. Motivated by both personal and professional experiences of racial injustice, the research seeks to understand how teaching within White institutional spaces and how teachers of color navigate and construct their teaching identities. The study proposes and constructs a theory of complex mathematical personhood, where VMToCs evolve these identities over time. The study is informed by an intersectional, critical race feminist framework and employs portraiture methods (Lightfoot & Hoffman-Davis, 1997) to illuminate the macrostructures of oppression in mathematics education. The study presents the lived experiences of seven veteran mathematics teachers of color, who collectively bring a century of teaching experience. Their portraits reveal how they leverage their racialized and gendered experiences to foster critically conscious approaches to math education. Through these portraits, the study sheds light on how teachers of color engage in acts of resistance and reimagine what it means to teach mathematics in ways that challenge dominant narratives.