2.33: Mathematics
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- Susan Rahman, Prateek Sunder, and Dahmitra Jackson
- CC ECHO
Mathematics is the science and study of quality, structure, space, and change.Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions (What is Mathematics?, 2021). Aside from being incomplete, inconsistent, and undecidable, math is a long standing tool for knowledge. Despite this, there is a hole in the bottom of math, in that we will never know anything with absolute certainty (Veritasium, 2021). What we can assert with certainty is that math as a requisite part of a general education pathway has proven to be a very difficult hurdle,and the conversation about how to address this has been ongoing, disharmonious and nowhere near resolved. Math holds the distinction of being one of the scariest subjects for a great deal of students. Math anxiety is actually a recognized phobia:
People who experience feelings of stress when faced with math-related situations may be experiencing what is called“math anxiety.” Math anxiety affects many people and is related to poor math ability in school and later during adulthood (Sokolowski & Ansari, 2017).
This type of anxiety that many regardless of identity experience may also be compounded by structural racism in a number of ways. Statistical Data, a mathematical tool in itself has been used to illustrate a persistent underperformance in math by Black, Latino and Indigenous youth. While findings such as this are a part of the equation they are not the entire story, there is more underlying in the ways in which these findings get used to shape perceptions which affect those student’s outcomes. A 2016 study in the Journal of Urban Mathematics Education,
disrupts those narratives by examining an unaddressed element of the equation—namely, the ways in which “whiteness” in math education reproduces racial advantages for white students and disadvantages historically marginalized students of color (Anderson,2017).
The study concludes that there is little discussion about the role of whiteness in how math is taught. “Naming White institutional spaces, as well as the mechanisms that oppress students,can provide those who work in the field of mathematics education with specific ideas about combating these racist structures” (Battey, & Leyva, 2016). The role of the teacher then becomes critical here in order to move in the direction of higher success and retention rates for students. As mentioned in other sections of this reader, a growth mindset is needed for educators wishing to combat these structures, instead of a fixed set of perceptions that does not allow a teacher to see a mathematical scholar in a student who does not fit their perceived mold. Any math educator can work in the direction of equity minded teaching by recognizing their own biases and acknowledging the structures in place that have marginalized so many students. There are many in the field working in this direction currently. (Those) “Educators say that incorporating anti-racism into math education involves providing students with context about how math has been used to perpetuate racism and giving students an opportunity to apply math in real-life scenarios that encourage equity” (Okwuosa, 2021).