The all-important portion of the conversation hit - when we all determine those who are like us and those who aren't - our majors. We went in a circle. A few people wanted to teach history, and others elementary education, English, biology.... and then the question came around to me.
"What is your major?"
From their reactions, you might have guessed I started describing a hernia, or what it is like to coat yourself in seaweed and pretend to be a seaweed monster. My answer was "Math," but all of the super sleuths out there who read the title of the post already knew that.
I have noticed overwhelmingly negative reactions to even the mention of majoring in math. If I were to graph the responses I get from people, it would look something like this:
(Go ahead, click on the picture. Something good will happen. I spent time on it so you should at least admire it a little larger.)
Apart from the shock of being immediately chastised, I started to wonder why so many people did not like math. Did they dislike it in the same way I dislike cantaloupe or strenuous physical activity? Did they dislike it because they had a teacher that did a less than stellar job?
As someone who thoroughly enjoys math at this point in her life (middle school was rough for all of us), it greatly confuses me as to why so many people severely dislike math. How can someone dislike something so expansive and large as math? Math is so many different different things. Math is its dictionary definition. Math is the study of patterns. It is what I do for homework. It is what I think about when I see roller coasters. It is what I use to calculate how much that shirt I need is on sale.
So, why do I choose to do the maths that so many people dislike?
I choose to do math because I was born too late to explore the world and too early to explore space, but math allows me to explore both in ways that explorers haven't before. Math can be used in an infinite number of ways that I couldn't possibly begin to list.
I want to teach math because I would like to inspire students to overcome the societal stigma against math, and perhaps use it to pioneer the future. Now, don't get me wrong, I do not wish to, nor could I, get every student to bask in the warm, fulfilling sunlight that is math. Students are interested in different things and it would be unrealistic to expect every student to get butterflies at the thought of completing a difficult proof. In fact, I do not get butterflies when I think about chemical compounds. My goal, however, is to give students new value and appreciation for math, and maybe even a deeper understanding of the world while I'm at it.
One day, it would be pretty sweet if people didn't uncontrollably vomit at the thought of math or someone choosing to major in it. Until then, I'm just going to start answering "What is your major?" with "Explorer."
Love this. Fun additions, lively style, but real content.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what you could add to it... maybe a postscript story of what happens when you tried this out?
clear, coherent, complete, content, consolidated: +
"I choose to do math because I was born too late to explore the world and too early to explore space"
ReplyDeleteLove that!
You've shared lots of great thoughts in this post. Here's one in return. While I don't doubt that many people have had less-than-awesome histories in mathematics, I think there's often more factors contributing to people's reactions. I think there's a large social component to the way people talk about themselves and math that has to do with status, sympathy, and leverage. A person might enjoy working on a logic puzzle or some other math task—find the experience engaging and pleasant—but still maintain that they don't like math. Because their friends said so, and they want to match pitch. Because it's a way of giving status to others, or to insulate an ego. Because it's a learned verbal tic and an easy way to navigate an occasionally recurrent social situation—a pat and comfortable role to play.
So there's much good work to be done both in representing math as the rich and delightful enterprise that it can be, as well as in helping people to build their relationships with and identity within mathematics. That being the case, welcome to a wonderful career!
I really enjoyed this blog post. I look forward to telling the next person who asks me what my major is that I am an "explorer". This is a great distinction that gets people thinking about the meaning behind mathematics.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is critical that as future teachers we all emphasize the applicability and enjoyment that can be found by using math every day. Even if we do not want to use it, we use math unconsciously daily! Through games, puzzles, walking to class or a location and choosing the fastest option, and even in time management! Math is a key subject to use as a skill for efficiency!
This was a really fun blog post. I tend to get the same reactions when I say my major is math--looks of disgust and general astonishment. I agree that it is important that we as teachers reduce the idea that math is intimidating. Maybe we can do this by incorporating real world, maybe even "fun," problems to show that math is useful and enjoyable. Overall, great job with your post. :) See you in class.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! It was really enjoyable and fun to read. And I agree about the negative connotations math brings. It was always really disappointing for me to hear people in my art classes over the years say things such as "While I'm good at art, that's why I can't do math. I'm all right brain". People need to see the possibility of both, the interconnections between subject areas. I think is where we need to focus as teachers. To make the subject relate-able to as many students as possible and show them the possibilities math has to offer.
ReplyDeleteI witness and feel the stigma towards math as well whenever I mention that I enjoy math, or have chosen it for a career. The reason for this stigma, from my experience, is that there isn't much of a creative outlet in math. With subjects like History and English, students can be creative and come up with multiple answers by interpreting the text multiple ways. As long as the student can support their ideas and analysis, then they have done a good job. With math, there is no such interpretation. For example, a student couldn't say "2+2=5 because that's how I interpret or see the problem." Math is either right or wrong in many math courses. And that is intimidating to students. If some students don't get a math concept right away, and they see others get it so easily, they start to think that they are not naturally good at math and never will be, so they shouldn't try. This is why it is so important for math teachers to emphasize that it's OK to make mistakes in the learning process and that there are multiple ways to solve a problem, so math becomes less daunting and more accessible to students. And our class does a great job in making that point.
ReplyDelete