Microsoft Word - 2 FINAL Bullock Vol 7 No 2.doc Journal of Urban Mathematics Education December 2014, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 6–8 ©JUME. http://education.gsu.edu/JUME     ERIKA C. BULLOCK is an assistant professor of mathematics education in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, at the University of Memphis, 419A Ball Hall, Memphis, TN, 38152; e-mail: Erika.Bullock@memphis.edu. Her research interests include exploring urban mathematics education curriculum and policy from a critical postmodern and historical perspective. She is associate to the editor-in-chief and Public Stories of Mathematics Educators section editor of the Journal of Urban Mathematics Education. EDITORIAL Public Stories of Mathematics Educators: An Invitation to Tell Erika C. Bullock University of Memphis he work of urban mathematics education is not exclusively an academic exer- cise; it belongs equally to mathematics education researchers, teachers, stu- dents, administrators, parents, and community members. Unfortunately, there are three significant gaps that characterize discussions of urban mathematics educa- tion. First, there exists a divide between scholarly journals and non-academic au- diences, which is an ongoing challenge in education research to demonstrate a bidirectional relationship between the practitioner and scholarly communities (Langrall, 2014). The second gap separates the realities of education practice from the processes that govern decision-making about education practice. Mathematics holds a central position in education policy discussions (Steiner, 1987), but policy decisions remain prescriptive for teaching and learning (Lortie, 2002) and do not take into account the lived realities of mathematics classrooms and the teachers and students that inhabit them. Finally, there is a gap between generalized concep- tualizations of mathematics education and the nuances of mathematics education in urban spaces. At JUME, we see these gaps as opportunities for mathematics educators1 to participate in public discourse related to mathematics teaching and learning. In Volume 2 Issue 1, Dr. Lou E. Matthews (2009), founding editor-in-chief of JUME, issued a call to urban mathematics educators to construct and share public narratives. This call inaugurated the Public Stories of Mathematics Educa- tors section in Volume 2 Issue 2. This section is a forum for mathematics educa- tors of all stations to move outside of traditional academic discourse in an effort “to define a more people-centric mathematics education” (Matthews, 2009, p. 3). Matthews argued that challenging times in urban education require transformative mathematics education leaders to frame our individual stories into public narra- tives that deliberately work to connect us with ourselves (stories of self), with                                                                                                                 1 The term mathematics educators refers to those who study mathematics teaching and learning. This group includes, but is not limited to, mathematics education researchers, mathematics teacher educators, and mathematics teachers at all levels (pre-K−graduate). T       Bullock Editorial Journal of Urban Mathematics Education Vol. 7, No. 2 7 others (stories of us), and with our work (stories of now). Contributions to this section have ranged from teachers interrogating policy and practice (e.g., Hen- nings, 2010), to teachers using poetry to examine the complexities of teacher- student relationships in mathematics classrooms (e.g., Ball, 2012), to teacher edu- cators reflecting upon successful pedagogies (e.g., Truxaw & Rojas, 2014). The Public Stories section is a space for all of us to share our good work, our lingering questions, and our responses to enduring challenges. These stories address a criti- cal question raised in the formation of JUME as a scholarly space: “How should we give ‘voice’ to the complex dynamics of change within the urban domain?” (Matthews, 2008, p. 2). I am writing this editorial as an invitation to our readers to join with JUME in an effort to shape the discourse about urban mathematics education through public stories. Our students, the teachers with whom we work, and we ourselves have stories that can contribute to larger understandings of urban mathematics education. Through these stories, we reveal who we are and how our identities shape and complicate our engagement with mathematics teaching and learning. However, it is important to note that public stories are not simply reflexive exer- cises; in order for these stories to connect, “we will have to be deliberate about (a) our intentions to do so, (b) what we choose—or choice points—to share, (c) what the moral will be, and (d) our audience” (Matthews, 2009, p. 3). Deliberately- constructed public narratives both problematize and enrich our understandings of urban mathematics education. JUME was founded in response to marginalization of urban mathematics education research in mainstream scholarly outlets (Matthews, 2008). Keeping with a mission to resist such marginalization within mathematics education re- search, the Public Stories of Mathematics Educators section stands in the gaps between research and public narrative, policy and practice, and generalized and experiential scholarship. We invite you to tell your public stories and to encour- age your students and other mathematics educators to do the same. Together, we can use this space to challenge dominant discourses through the transformative power of stories that support “a discourse agenda that addresses urban complexi- ties, challenges, and excellence” (Matthews, 2009, p. 1). References Ball, T. N. (2012). I am from…. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 5(2), 53−54. Retrieved from http://ed-osprey.gsu.edu/ojs/index.php/JUME/article/view/175/120 Hennings, J. A. (2010). New curriculum: Frustration or realization?. Journal of Urban Mathemat- ics Education, 3(1), 19−26. Retrieved from http://ed-osprey.gsu.edu/ojs/index.php/JUME/article/view/90/44 Langrall, C. W. (2014). Linking research and practice: Another call to action?. Journal for Re- search in Mathematics Education, 45(2), 154−156.       Bullock Editorial Journal of Urban Mathematics Education Vol. 7, No. 2 8 Lortie, D. C. (2002). Schoolteacher (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Matthews, L. E. (2008). Illuminating urban excellence: A movement of change within mathemat- ics education. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 1(1), 1–4. Retrieved from http://ed-osprey.gsu.edu/ojs/index.php/JUME/article/view/20/9 Matthews, L. E. (2009). Identity crisis: The public stories of mathematics educators. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 2(1), 1–4. Retrieved from http://ed-osprey.gsu.edu/ojs/index.php/JUME/article/viewFile/41/11 Steiner, H.-G. (1987). Philosophical and epistemological aspects of mathematics and their interac- tion with theory and practice in mathematics education. For the Learning of Mathematics, 7(1), 7–13. Truxaw, M. P., & Rojas, E. D. (2014). Challenges and affordances of learning mathematics in a second language. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 7(2), 21–30. Retrieved from http://ed-osprey.gsu.edu/ojs/index.php/JUME/article/view/233/160