Mathematical exclusion as social injustice: a critical analysis of inclusive education discourse and practice in grades 5–6

Abstract

The promise of inclusive education to provide equitable learning opportunities for all students faces significant challenges when confronted with the abstract nature of mathematics and the deeply embedded power structures within educational systems. This critical systematic review examines how inclusive mathematics education for grades 5–6 students learning squares, cubes, areas, and volumes operates as a site of both possibility and contradiction in achieving educational equity. Drawing on 87 studies and employing an intersectional lens that integrates disability studies, critical race theory, and feminist pedagogy, we reveal how current inclusive practices often reproduce rather than disrupt educational inequities. Our analysis uncovers three critical tensions: the paradox of inclusion where physical integration masks continued marginalization; the hidden curriculum that privileges certain ways of mathematical thinking while devaluing others; and the neoliberal co-optation of inclusive discourse that emphasizes individual accommodation over systemic transformation. We find that while technological innovations and differentiated instruction show promise, their implementation frequently fails to address underlying power dynamics and ableist assumptions. Most significantly, we identify how the discourse of mathematical rigor serves to maintain exclusionary practices under the guise of maintaining standards. This research is crucial for understanding how mathematical exclusion perpetuates broader social inequalities, limiting opportunities for marginalized students in STEM fields and affecting their economic mobility, civic participation, and life trajectories. This review contributes a new critical framework for understanding inclusive mathematics education that moves beyond technical solutions to address the fundamental questions of whose knowledge counts, who belongs in mathematics, and how current practices perpetuate educational injustice. We argue for a radical reimagining of inclusive mathematics education that centers social justice, recognizes multiple ways of knowing, and actively works to dismantle oppressive structures within mathematics classrooms.