Maths and its many meanings
Re-thinking the concept of maths
The image above shows how most people have been socialised to think about maths.
But how do you conceptualise maths?
What does maths look like?
Is it a big thing? Or lots of little things?
What are the qualities of maths?
Does it speak softly or loudly?
How does it feel?
Is it soft? Or spiky and hard?
Where does it live? How does it change? Is it built or discovered?
In trying to answer these questions, I developed my own list:
Maths is a feeling, a sense - touch: in the counting of fingers and toes; sight: in the highs and lows of curves (sine, cosine, parabola); hearing: in the beat, pitch and rhythm of music.
Maths is mindful - maths can give lifelong safe harbour and calm waters for those surrounded by chaos. It is mostly knowable and gives certainty, amidst uncertainty.
Maths is an art, and is engaged in the search for beauty (i.e. the golden ratio) and harmony - always seeking to rationalise into simplest form; and frequently found in nature (i.e. Fibonacci sequence).
Maths is a language - Maths is a way to communicate, with rules of grammar; and the ability to say the same thing in many different ways. Where fluency is improved upon everyday practice. It is used to describe things i.e. 2 birds, 5 times per week - maths contributes to making sense of our world.
Maths has a complex history
Maths is colonising - it makes a claim of ownership; to capture and claim the world in mathematical terms; this invisibilises the cultural bias of western-derived mathematical culture and its values.
Maths is misunderstood - maths has been stereotyped and misrepresented.
Everybody can get along with maths, no matter your background and you can understand it on your own terms.
Why is any of this important?
Students are increasingly graduating high school with a lack of numeracy skills1, which is having impact upon job prospects, and also innovation in industry2.
I’ve written before about some of the barriers to engaging with maths, and if we continue to conceptualise maths in one, narrow, culturally-limiting way; we will continue to see disengagement in schools, particularly with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and minority groups.
Maths theorises the infinite, and yet we only have one way to conceptualise maths?
Maths is touted as static, immoveable, factual but this isn’t the full story.
In late-Antiquity maths was categorised under the arts3. Developments in mathematical theory and pedagogy happen all the time. Mathematicians disagree4. New thinkers such as Professor Chris Matthews provide guidance for ways that we can respectfully embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practices into the teaching of mathematics - which benefits all students.
What do we have to lose, and how much do we stand to gain by opening up and questioning our current understandings?
To open maths to new and under-served audiences, we need to first conceive of maths learning in new ways.
If we are to innovate, to approach maths creatively, to increase the numeracy capabilities and maths confidence of our young people overall; we need to listen to those who have previously been excluded; to practice maths humility.
Why do we learn maths in high school?
Depending on who you ask, responses may include:
To get into university;
To become a teacher;
To start a business.
The above examples align with the blackboard image; they privilege the utility of maths. If we continue to engage with maths in this way, maths becomes a chore, a burden, something we must endure to get to our end goal; instead of an innate sense that we are all born with.
We engage in art for art’s sake - imagine if we engaged in maths learning similarly? If maths wasn’t something to use, but instead, something that is? Something that young people are encouraged to discover through curiosity.
Imagine if we expanded our understanding of why we learn maths in high school:
If maths was a modality for addressing mental health and behavioural issues;
If maths was approached as an aesthetic, akin to minimalism and incorporated into fine arts;
If maths looked at language through a linguistic lens;
If maths were embedded into humanities to ask an always important question: who makes knowledge? To question power, privilege and the re-making of our world anew;
if the relationship between maths and music were made explicit;
if maths were understood to contribute to neurological development in expansive, creative and adaptive thinking;
if maths sparked enthusiasm, inspiration, creativity, innovation and joy;
if maths were given human qualities and brought back to the sense of everyday life; as well as its utility.
Our scholarly contributions - and school graduates - would be so much more diverse and richer for it.
Below is a different concept of maths.
What does maths look like now? Who is invited to participate? How relevant is maths to our everyday life?
[collage: includes images from Canva and NFL-player-turned-mathematician John Urschel]
What would your concept of maths look like?
As always, if you have any corrections, criticisms or a different perspective - let me know via teacheraideqld@gmail.com or in the comments below.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/23/australia-naplan-results-literacy-numeracy-nsw-qld-vic-sa-nt-tas-wa
https://theconversation.com/saying-im-not-good-at-maths-is-not-cool-negative-attitudes-are-affecting-business-53298
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/8/2/43
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/8/2/56