Anti-racist mathematics

From Freepedia

Anti-racist mathematics is a branch of education reform theory in countries such as the US and the UK, which attempts to form an anti-bias curriculum in mathematics. It emphasizes the sociocultural context of mathematics education and suggests that the study of mathematics (as it is traditionally known in western societies) may exhibit racial or cultural bias. While 'anti-racist mathematics' and 'ethnomathematics' scholars share the assumption that any given mathematical understanding or practice is a product of a particular culture, the forms of their scholarship differ.

Contents 1 Purpose 2 Context 3 Criticism 4 See also 4.1 References 4.2 External links

Purpose

Anti-racist mathematics is primarily concerned with the way in which mathematics is taught, although it also examines the contents of the curriculum to a lesser degree. An anti-racist approach to mathematics education could include any or all of the following:

• Discussion of the mathematical knowledge of ancient civilisations outside of Europe, and non-European contributions to mathematical knowledge and discovery.
• The avoidance of racial stereotyping when forming and communicating expectations of pupils attainments in mathematics.
• The avoidance of racial stereotypes or cultural bias in classroom materials, textbooks, coursework topics and examination questions.

Proponents of anti-racist mathematics believe that anti-racist education programs have the potential to correct imbalances and to have beneficial results on test scores and examination results in some minority groups.

Context

Anti-racist mathematics is part of a larger social constructivist movement in which traditional Western or scientific world views are seen as products of the Judeo–Christian and masculine assumptions of Western cultures. Anti-racist educators suggest that these assumptions are dominant because of superior political power. Anti-racist mathematics is a general approach to mathematics education, trying to shift a field created by "dead white men" into what proponents see as a more multicultural context.

Proponents find evidence in the findings of 20th century anthropology, philosophy and various social science disciplines. From this, they believe that the mental paradigms of individuals have a determinative effect on the way they interpret the origin and meaning of events and objects in the world around them.

Criticism

An early critic of anti-racist mathematics was UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who said in her address to the Conservative Party Conference in October 1987:

"Children who need to be able to count and multiply are learning anti-racist mathematics, whatever that is."

Critics claim anti-racist mathematics takes relativism and postmodernism to extremes. These critics assert that mathematics and science, especially hard science fields such as physics, chemistry, and biology, accurately reflect universals, as opposed to being cultural interpretations or social constructions. For example, some critics say that Newton's formulations of the laws of gravity are neutral formulations that apply regardless of cultural, regional or ideological context. With this view, critics suggest that hard science is different from ideology because it is based on the scientific method, essentially an extremely cautious means of building a supportable, evidenced understanding of our world.

Controversy regarding anti-racist mathematics has arisen in January 2005 around plummeting mathematics scores at a school with prominent anti-racist education principles, the Newton Public Schools in Newton, Massachusetts.

Critics blame the falling test scores on the school's 2001 math curriculum redesign [1], which emphasized “Newton’s commitment to active anti-racist education” for the elementary and middle schools. The mathematics curriculum's new design officially brought “Respect for Human Differences" to the same level of emphasis [2] as the teaching of mathematics:

"Students will live out the system wide core of ‘Respect for Human Differences’ by demonstrating anti-racist/anti-bias behaviors [...] Students will: Consistently analyze their experiences and the curriculum for bias and discrimination; Take effective anti-bias action when bias or discrimination is identified; Work with people of different backgrounds and tell how the experience affected them; Demonstrate how their membership in different groups has advantages and disadvantages that affect how they see the world and the way they are perceived by others...”

Critics emphasize their view that in math curricula, these values should have a lower priority than the teaching of math skills.

See also

• Whiteness studies
• Anti-bias curriculum
• anti-racism
• culture wars
• ethnomathematics
• multi-culturalism
• postmodernism
• relativism
• social constructivism

References

• Woodrow, D. (1989). Multicultural and anti-racist mathematics teaching. In P. Ernest (Ed.), Mathematics teaching: The state of the art (pp. 229-235). London: Falmer.
• Cotton, A. (1990). Anti-racist mathematics teaching and the national curriculum. Mathematics Teaching, 132, 22-26.
• Levidow, L. (1987). Racism in scientific innovation. In D. Gill and L. Levidow (Eds.), Anti-racist science teaching (pp. 43-58). London: Free Association.
• Vance, M. (1987). Biology teaching in a racist society. In D. Gill and L. Levidow (Eds.), Anti-racist science teaching. (pp. 107-123). London: Free Association.
• Young, R. M. (1987). Racist society, racist science. In D. Gill and L. Levidow (Eds.), Anti-racist science teaching. (pp. 16-42). London: Free Association.
• Mears, T. (1986). Multicultural and anti-racist approaches to the teaching of science in schools. In J. Guadara, C. Jones and K. Kimberley (Eds.), Racism, diversity and education (pp. 154-166). London: Hodder and Stoughton.
• The Politics of Anti-Racist Mathematics in Proceedings of the First International Conference on Political Dimensions of Mathematics Education, (Ed. R. Noss), Institute of Education Publications, University of London, 1990.
• The Politics of Anti-Racist Mathematics, European Education Journal, July 1994, pp.67-74
• Harding, Sandra. The Science Question in Feminism. 1986.

External links

• 'Anti-Racist' Message in Mass. Math Class Fox News (Feb 2005)
• Book Review: Issues in Mathematics Teaching - Ed. Peter Gates
• In depth analysis of the Newton incident (Gene Expression)
• Criticism of anti-racist math teacher preparation at the College of Education at the University of Florida. (Gene Expression)
• "The New Creationism: Biology Under Attack" (Relativism in the hard sciences) Barbara Ehrenreich and Janet McIntosh. The Nation, June 9, 1997.
• Extract from memorandum submitted by the African-Caribbean Network for Science & Technology to the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology