Quote from Musqueam weaver Debra Sparrow, from the cover of Hands of Our Ancestors:
"It is like somebody guides me
It's not me really
I feel that I'm only the hands
through which my ancestors work...
I feel that way, that I will be able to show people again
what we have and what we are."
In mathematics class, we just "do math" -- and then "do more math". Learners are seldom aware of even the mathematical topics they are learning about, never mind having a sense of being connected to powerful, ingenious, beautiful cultural knowledge and ways that connect them with their ancestors, with nature, with practical and beautiful arts.
How and why might this rupture have happened?
• The Industrial Revolution and the rise of public schools: this made by hand that took time to make were devalued. Physical objects that showed mathematical relationships were devalued.
• Elitist education: upper classes would do a much higher level of math as a gatekeeper. Not everyone got access to the same math. This may still be the case in some places. (Streaming, AP and IB courses, underprivileged within public schools...)
• Introduction of Western education in colonized nations involved a lot of rote memorization, collided attitudes.
Weaving and other crafts involved in inner focus, concentration, expression of self and culture, and a depth of attention. There is a stillness and silence, and there may not be a lot of words accompanying -- not a very school-y thing!
• Did cultural connections get lost over time and translation across countries and cultures? For example, did Al Ktwarizmi's algebra lose its connections? But even Plato (500 BC) disconnected mathematics as an abstract thing from the world. Platonic and Cartesian thought valued abstraction over everything else.
• People think about mathematics in terms of culture-free, evaluative exercises -- including parents. Once established, the system can be very conservative. Kids ask 'why am I learning this?' -- is this only in math, because it is so disconnected from things.
Do we believe 'I shop, therefore I am'? We often justify learning things because it will make you money... Are there other values?
• Every culture has contributions to the creation of math. Colonizing cultures dominate over other cultures -- and the abstraction of mathematics allows ideas to be 'extracted' from conquered cultures (and one's own culture)to be applied to many situations even in other contexts and cultures.
• Every culture views math from different angles -- for example, Ancient Greek mathematicians focused on geometric shapes, but contemporary Asian mathematicians focus on numerical relations. By abstracting math away from contexts, these different foci can be brought together.
"It is like somebody guides meIt's not me really
I feel that I'm only the hands
through which my ancestors work...
I feel that way, that I will be able to show people again
what we have and what we are."
In mathematics class, we just "do math" -- and then "do more math". Learners are seldom aware of even the mathematical topics they are learning about, never mind having a sense of being connected to powerful, ingenious, beautiful cultural knowledge and ways that connect them with their ancestors, with nature, with practical and beautiful arts.
How and why might this rupture have happened?
• The Industrial Revolution and the rise of public schools: this made by hand that took time to make were devalued. Physical objects that showed mathematical relationships were devalued.
• Elitist education: upper classes would do a much higher level of math as a gatekeeper. Not everyone got access to the same math. This may still be the case in some places. (Streaming, AP and IB courses, underprivileged within public schools...)
• Introduction of Western education in colonized nations involved a lot of rote memorization, collided attitudes.
Weaving and other crafts involved in inner focus, concentration, expression of self and culture, and a depth of attention. There is a stillness and silence, and there may not be a lot of words accompanying -- not a very school-y thing!
• Did cultural connections get lost over time and translation across countries and cultures? For example, did Al Ktwarizmi's algebra lose its connections? But even Plato (500 BC) disconnected mathematics as an abstract thing from the world. Platonic and Cartesian thought valued abstraction over everything else.
• People think about mathematics in terms of culture-free, evaluative exercises -- including parents. Once established, the system can be very conservative. Kids ask 'why am I learning this?' -- is this only in math, because it is so disconnected from things.
Do we believe 'I shop, therefore I am'? We often justify learning things because it will make you money... Are there other values?
• Every culture has contributions to the creation of math. Colonizing cultures dominate over other cultures -- and the abstraction of mathematics allows ideas to be 'extracted' from conquered cultures (and one's own culture)to be applied to many situations even in other contexts and cultures.
• Every culture views math from different angles -- for example, Ancient Greek mathematicians focused on geometric shapes, but contemporary Asian mathematicians focus on numerical relations. By abstracting math away from contexts, these different foci can be brought together.
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