Unlearning Math Part 1 — The Societal Narrative
This is the first in a series of articles exploring why math is often so adamantly avoided, and why I think it’s worth playing with anyway.
The Societal Narrative
When I was in elementary school and I’d get that inevitable question, “what’s your favorite subject?”, my response was often “math”. At first, I liked most subjects equally, so since math usually got the biggest reaction, I went with that. As I continued with school, I began to realize that math genuinely was my favorite subject. The vast majority of students, however, would probably disagree with me. So what made my experience different? Why did I go on to major in math in college? And why do I continue to read and write about math after graduating?
Some people would argue that maybe I’m more mentally inclined towards math and logic, whereas others gravitate more towards language or art or building things. That’s just the way we’re wired. I’m simply a ‘math person’. While I do believe we each have specific areas we tend to lean into, I honestly think that’s irrelevant to this conversation. Just because I don’t naturally gravitate towards drawing and painting doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate it and enjoy doing it for fun. We can accept this about other areas, but not about math. We have this myth that you need to be a ‘math person’ in order to enjoy math, and very few people see themselves that way. Rather than inclination or natural gift, I think the conversation really needs to be about our mentality and attitudes towards mathematics.
The thing is, those attitudes rarely develop in isolation. I was lucky to grow up surrounded by people who felt comfortable with math. When I was a baby, my mom used to count telephone poles while we were driving to calm me down. When I was in early elementary school, my grandpa and I used to practice carryover addition when he’d come to visit. My uncle taught me about imaginary numbers when I was in third grade. And whenever I had a question about my math homework, my dad would not only help me figure out the answer, but also help me understand why that answer made sense and the deeper math behind it. All these experiences communicated to me that math is something fascinating and engaging. They made it accessible. If all these people could do it, why would I ever believe that I couldn’t?
The Power of Self-Efficacy
Essentially, the way we talk about and interact with math as a society has a profound effect on how we see and connect with math as individuals.
In my second year of college, I took a class on the research methods in social sciences. Our final project involved designing and implementing a small scale study. I chose to create a survey on math anxiety and analyze the factors that contribute to feelings of unease and fear around mathematics. In my research, I found that self-efficacy, or one’s beliefs about their own ability to do something, has a profound impact on their mathematical ‘performance’. Essentially, whether you think you can do math affects how well you actually do the math.
Jo Boaler (a fabulous human being actively shaking up the way we teach mathematics) talks about this (and a few ideas we’ll dig into in future articles) in her TED Talk.
What’s fascinating to me about self-efficacy is how heavily it’s influenced by the messages you receive (both explicitly and implicitly) from the people around you. So, before a person ever sets foot in a classroom, their beliefs about their ability to do math are already being influenced by what they hear, read, and observe about the way others interact with math. Just think about the ways we often talk about math as a ‘necessary evil’, a prerequisite to doing more interesting things. Even phrases like “I’m not a math person”, reinforce this societal narrative that math is only for the small subset of people with a ‘mathy brain’, and those who aren’t naturally ‘math inclined’ must suffer through the mandatory classes until they’re finally free. Not only is this an unhappy mindset to have while we’re doing the math ourselves, but think about how these attitudes are also conditioning the people around us to see math as unattainable, boring, even impossible.
Essentially, the way we talk about and interact with math as a society has a profound effect on how we see and connect with math as individuals. But that doesn’t mean we’re doomed to cringe at the mention of math forever. Just as the views of our social circle impact our own, changing our individual attitudes and behaviors can also influence those of the people around us. I can tell you about beautiful, amazing, mind-blowing mathematical ideas until the end of time, but if we don’t become aware of and change the way we talk about math on a day to day basis, we will simply continue to reinforce the societal narrative that math is reserved for a select few and everyone else might as well give up at the next available opportunity.
Baby Steps
At this point, I’m not expecting you to suddenly start faking an enthusiasm for mathematics (although there is something to be said for the ‘fake it till you make it’ energy). Not being honest and authentic, especially with children and teenagers, can often have the opposite effect, making math feel even more like a pointless waste of time. All I’m asking in this moment is that you notice how you think and act and talk about math. What are the messages you’re perceiving from the people around you? What narratives are you feeding? Becoming aware and being curious are crucial first steps in breaking down any long standing barrier.
