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Very little work has been published on teaching for social justice in the Middle East. This paper demonstrates how a group of Arab women’s reading and writing of their world was facilitated by using a social justice pedagogy based on Gutstein’s (2006) model. The study involved 20 Middle Eastern women (ages ranging from 16-36). The findings suggest that the students have developed significant abilities to use mathematics as a tool to read and write their world. In addition, the findings show that, like their counterparts elsewhere in the world, these young women are also interested in social justice issues. This is particularly significant because of current ongoing social developments in the Middle East.

This study involved a group of Middle Eastern Muslim women (ages ranging from 16-36) learning mathematics through social justice pedagogy. One of the important lessons from this experience is that, despite some of the unique challenges associated with teaching for social justice, in this context this method of teaching is doable and beneficial. However, in the current atmosphere throughout the Middle East it is a very challenging task: it needs courage and commitment on the part of the teacher/researcher, as well as support and even protection by the head of the college or policymakers to ensure that it leads to positive learning outcomes.