Matemanidad: Collective Value Through Mathematics, Collaboration, and Joy
By Tamyka Morant
At Bruce-Monroe at Park View Elementary School in Washington, D.C., mathematics is not only about solving problems, it is about building community. During Matemanidad, a quarter-long interdisciplinary mathematics experience, students in grades pre-K–5 worked collaboratively to design original math games and participate in a school-wide tournament centered on performance assessment tasks. The experience was grounded in the Black Lives Matter at School principle of Collective Value, affirming that every member of the community has something meaningful to contribute to shared learning.
Matemanidad challenged students to move beyond individual problem-solving toward collective thinking. Students worked in teams to design math games that required strategic reasoning, clear mathematical communication, and shared responsibility. Success depended not on one student’s ability, but on how well teams listened to one another, revised ideas together, and ensured that every member was included in the design process.
Learning Mathematics Through Collective Creation
As students designed their games, they encountered authentic mathematical challenges: balancing difficulty levels, creating fair scoring systems, and ensuring that problems required reasoning rather than memorization. Students iterated on their ideas, tested games with peers, and revised rules based on feedback. Teachers and family members noted that students were deeply engaged and proud of the games they had created.
Through this process, students began to see mathematics as something they build together. One student reflected, “Working as a team makes it better.” Another shared that they learned “to be helpful” when working with classmates, while another explained that they learned to help others who needed support.
These reflections illustrate a shift from mathematics as individual performance to mathematics as shared intellectual work. Students recognized that collaboration strengthened both their games and their understanding.
Developing Mathematical Identity and Collective Responsibility
Student feedback demonstrated growth not only in mathematical understanding but in mathematical identity. Many students described new confidence in themselves as mathematicians. One student wrote simply, “I am good at math,” while others described learning new strategies or realizing they could improve through practice.
Equally important, students expressed an understanding that everyone contributes to learning. Across student responses, there was strong agreement with the statement that all classmates have something valuable to offer and that working together improves mathematics learning for everyone. This reflects the core of Collective Value and affirms that learning is a shared endeavor, where students recognize their interconnectedness, take responsibility for one another’s growth, and build communities where everyone’s humanity and contributions are valued..
Adults observing the tournament echoed this shift. Teachers and staff noted increased excitement around math learning and observed students supporting one another during gameplay and problem-solving. Students explained their thinking, encouraged teammates, and demonstrated persistence when faced with challenging tasks.
The Tournament as Collective Achievement
The culminating Matemanidad tournament transformed assessment into celebration. Rather than competing against one another, students engaged in shared problem-solving experiences where success depended on communication, reasoning, and teamwork. Performance tasks became opportunities for collective sensemaking, as students explained their thinking, built on one another’s ideas, and worked together to navigate challenge.
Students were evaluated not only on their mathematical reasoning, but also on how they contributed to the learning of their team. Evaluation criteria included shared leadership, affirming community, communication, perseverance, and collaboration. In this way, assessment reflected the values of the learning experience itself, recognizing that mathematical understanding grows through collective effort and that how students learn together matters as much as what they solve.
The event positioned mathematics as joyful, social, and meaningful — a space where students could experience challenge while feeling supported by their peers.
Why Collective Value Matters in Mathematics
In many classrooms, mathematics can unintentionally reinforce white supremacist ideas of individualism, speed, and competition. Matemanidad offered an alternative vision: mathematics as community practice. Students learned that understanding grows through dialogue, revision, and shared effort.
By centering collaboration and student voice, Matemanidad helped students experience mathematics as a space where everyone belongs. The project affirmed that collective success strengthens individual growth and that when students see one another as resources rather than competitors, deeper learning becomes possible.
Now in its fourth year, Matemanidad continues to deepen this work. Each year, we are struck by the growth we see in students, evidenced by the increasing clarity, mathematical alignment, creativity, and rigor of the games they design. Just as importantly, students’ mathematical discourse and collaboration continue to strengthen. Students more readily explain their thinking, build on one another’s ideas, and take shared responsibility for learning.
Matemanidad demonstrates that when mathematics instruction intentionally centers Collective Value, students develop not only stronger problem-solving skills but also stronger relationships with one another and with mathematics itself. Through Matemanidad, students experience mathematics as a shared journey — one where challenge, joy, and collective effort make deeper understanding possible for everyone
Tamyka Morant is an assistant principal at Bruce-Monroe at Park View and a Zinn Education Project Prentiss Charney Fellow.