| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Educators work to combat racism, whiteness in math |
| 2019-07-17 |
| h/t Instapundit [CollegeFix] "Math equity" doesn’t mean 1 + 1 = 2. The term refers to the growing insistence among educators that teaching math in the classroom comes with some inherently biased methodology that must be addressed. Proponents of "math equity" also stress the importance of social justice issues such as race, diversity and gender in math education ‐ a trend that’s catching on. More professors and educators are tweeting under the hashtag #MathEquity to share strategies on the topic, and webinars and other pedagogical sessions on it abound. "Equity-based mathematics teaching requires more than implementing new curriculum or using specific practices because it involves taking a stand for what is right," the website for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics states. "It requires mathematics teachers to reflect on their own identity, positions, and beliefs in regards to racist and sorting-based mechanisms. It involves noticing students, learning about the worlds they live in, and building mathematics that comes from these worlds. And finally, it involves engaging other educators in partnerships to build equity-oriented communities." The council did not respond to requests from The College Fix for comment. A 2018 column in Medium on math equity argues math equity must go beyond classroom teaching strategies. It argued math education is biased in favor of a Western narrative. "The larger problem is that there are no readily recognizable names of non-white math leaders who are fluent in content and/or pedagogy," writes Sunil Singh, who goes on to point out most celebrated mathematicians in the classroom are white: Pythagoras. Euclid. Descartes. Gauss. Newton. "Every student of mathematics will come across the zero and the negative sign," he states. "Yet, there is very rarely a mention of Brahmagupta in classes." " ... Calculus was a monumental achievement and deserves to have authorship recognized with Newton. But more students encounter the work of Brahmagupta than Newton. But, what if it wasn’t Newton that discovered calculus? What if it was Japanese scholar Seki Takakazu? We will never know. But the bigger idea is why couldn’t this be a possibility? Do we not want to be dislodged from the entrenched Western narrative?" Meanwhile, there have been numerous online sessions and webinars to train teachers to adapt to an equity-based approach to math. A recent online chat session titled "Diversity & Inclusion: Math ED Spaces" discussed on Twitter looked at a student’s sense of belonging and racial diversity in math education, according to a thread by one of the session’s participants. "We heard ... about creating a sense of belonging for students & teachers of color prompting us to become self-reflective of our work & take action," tweeted Naomi Jessup, assistant professor of mathematics education at Georgia State University. Naomi Jessup @mathedmatters · Jun 12, 2019 Replying to @mathedmatters We had a diverse group of people across the US and abroad that chose to embark on a journey of understanding how to increase diversity and inclusion in different mathematics education spaces. We looked like a box of multicultural crayons! #MathEdEquity 2/4 Naomi Jessup @mathedmatters We applied @PedroANoguera tips for step in the pursuit of equity from @cultofpedagogy podcast. We heard from @TheJLV & @HKhodai about creating a sense of belonging for students & teachers of color prompting us to become self-reflective of our work & take action. #MathEdEquity 3/4 13 7:35 PM - Jun 12, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy See Naomi Jessup's other Tweets Jessup did not respond to The College Fix’s requests for comment. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has also hosted math equity webinars. In one 2018 webinar titled "Developing Social Justice Mathematics Activists in Pre-K-Grade 5," its online description states that "when paired with issues of fairness, mathematics becomes a social justice tool that empowers students to mathematically recognize and address oppression they see in their own world." Some concepts of math equity are not all rooted in identity politics. A recent tweet from Cathery Yeh, assistant professor of education at Chapman University, listed strategies for math equity on a whiteboard from a more objective view of student academic success, with ideas such as "give students time to think on their own" and "provide students with many different kinds of tools to help them discover their strategy or thinking." Other tweets on her account, however, favor math equity as a social justice tool. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #8 Right privilege: check it. Show your |
| Posted by: Alistaire Whinerong5775 2019-07-17 17:28 |
| #7 Taking the mathness out of math. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2019-07-17 16:27 |
| #6 Goddamn ! This is madness ! Have you guys actually seen what it entails ? I'm seeing this for the first time. Characteristics of Equity Maths. I thought it was just opportunist revisionists seeking petty career advancement by signalling 'wokeness', gaslighting an innocent generation with bilge. It's a neat plan to actually impair the ability of teachers to effectively communicate in a mathematics class, and to reverse all advancement made in western education so far, especial in STEM. I suppose math must be the only subject where clear and terse dialogue takes place, and it cannot be exploited like other subjects, say civics or literature. Sampler : "Research has recently shown something stunning—when students make a mistake in math, their brain grows, synapses fire, and connections are made; when they do the work correctly, there is no brain growth" |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2019-07-17 15:44 |
| #5 So for the last few years J have been told by the media it was a black woman that did the hard math to get Apollo 11 to the moon. Someone here is spinning Yarn. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2019-07-17 15:21 |
| #4 Put da RHYTHM back in da algo-rithm oomba-oomba-oomba-oomba... |
| Posted by: Lex 2019-07-17 14:27 |
| #3 I think there's more to it than not inhaling, B. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2019-07-17 14:17 |
| #2 |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2019-07-17 13:54 |
| #1 We will never know. But the bigger idea is why couldn’t this be a possibility? Wow. Possibility based sciences now. Sophistry married to exactitude produces zero applicability. So what if Brahma-fuckin'-Gupta found the zero ? Someone else had to popularize it for use in equations. The chinese began that in the 6th century when they put it to use in calculating per capita income, and much later an Arab took the idea west. It wasn't until it could be used in anything except counting bags of paddy or writing astrology charts, that the fucking thing came to be of use to someone. How does it matter whether a white guy did it or a brown or yellow one ? It's history, not mathematics. Now it seems it's also political science. Are people really going to elevate/reduce everything from simple calculus to walking on the moon to racial politics now ? |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2019-07-17 13:39 |