The Culture of Mathematics with Marian Dingle and Dr. Cathery Yeh

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A friend recently alerted me to the podcast, On the Podcast: Heineman Fellow Marian Dingle and Dr. Cathery Yeh on the Culture of Mathematics, and I’ve now listened to it several times. I have been following Marian on Twitter for quite some time and when she talks, I listen and learn a lot. I have been sitting with this new learning and some key takeaways are causing me to pause and reflect on my teaching and beliefs.

My Takeaways

  1. My first takeaway came from a question from Dr. Yeh, “How are we building from their (students) ways of knowing and being and how are we shifting from the intervention to the child that we need to intervene and fix a child, to intervening and fixing the learning environment so that the way in which we engage in math honors broader ways of knowing and being.”

This question stood out to me as I reflect on how I have taught math in the past. I used to give students THE way, a standard algorithm, to solve a problem and would then hear parents say they couldn’t help their children in math because they solved problems another way. Frustration would ensue at home as parents may not be able to help as well as at school as the focus was on memorization rather than understanding. As I learned more through the Rational Number Project, I saw the impact of a variety of models and strategies to support student thinking as they built connections to prior and future learning. In addition, my school district has focused our work with equity helping me see the power of honoring the math each child brings and making space for them to use what strategies make sense. As I did a Problem String in 5th grade this week, this honoring allowed students to learn from each other, connect their representations to each others’, and feel as valued members of the classroom community.

  1. Connected to the previous question was this quote, “when we even look at school mathematics, what school math often is, it’s a process of othering. It’s asking our kids to use math in a language that’s often not their own and strategies that’s not their own and in context and problems that are usually irrelevant to their lives.”

Not only with the strategies students bring and/or find successful, the language each child brings to school is something to be valued and extended upon. In the book, Principles to Actions by NCTM, it states that gaps narrow and ultimately disappear when teachers “understand and appreciate learners’ social and cultural contexts in meaningful ways. Effective teachers draw on community resources to understand how they can use contexts, culture, conditions, and language to support mathematics teaching and learning. As a result, learning mathematics becomes a part of a student’s sense of identity, leading to increased engagement and motivation.” This week I was in a 3rd grade classroom beginning their work with area. In their noticing, they shared an understanding of area with language that made sense to them. We built upon that language to connect to the new vocabulary. As students’ sense of identity is valued, a key part of this is the beautiful language they bring from home, they will more likely see math for all of its beauty rather than numbers to be memorized and facts to be learned. In addition, they will see themselves as mathematicians with ideas worth discussing.

  1. Dr. Yeh references the book, Decolonizing Educational Research: From Ownership to Accountability by Leigh Patel. In it, she talks about the Pedagogy of Pausing. Pausing to allow for more time to listen, pausing to reflect, learn, and heal. When we pause and listen, we take the time to see how we are interconnected.

I think of the franticness of this school year and how I try to multitask, thus only hearing part of what someone says. Not taking the time to really listen for understanding causes disconnection and hurts relationships. Whether working with adults or children, pausing to really listen enhances belonging.

  1. What has been sitting with me like a ton of bricks is, “We’re always around trying to fix kids, labeled ones based on this bell curve that were originally created to disenfranchised children of color and children that are not middle and upper class and we often do this in the name of equity.”

Yep. I have been a part of this. I have talked about my “high kids,” “low kids,” “bubble kids,” etc. No matter how I’ve twisted it, I have labeled children. In my learning, I have tried to reframe this thinking in terms of children with more opportunities. When Marian tweeted about these labels, I shared my thinking. Even with the work I’ve been doing and will continue to do, I have so much to learn. I am sharing Dr. Yeh’s response as I believe her response is important and is helping me continue to reframe and do best by children.

If you have the time to listen to this podcast, there are so many more important points. As Marian Dingle has said, “Our omissions speak as loudly as what we choose to include.” If you listen, I would love to hear what you would include and what you’re still reflecting upon. Tweet me @laura_wagenman as I would appreciate learning with you.

Laura Wagenman

MCTM Equity Committee & Communications Committee Member