{"id":89,"date":"2005-07-05T10:20:38","date_gmt":"2005-07-05T18:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/migrator.rab.olt.ubc.ca\/ross\/2005\/07\/05\/rethinking-mathematics\/"},"modified":"2005-07-05T10:20:38","modified_gmt":"2005-07-05T18:20:38","slug":"rethinking-mathematics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ross\/2005\/07\/rethinking-mathematics\/","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking mathematics"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the June 30 Wall Street Journal<\/i> Diane Ravitch–right-wing historian of education, nativist, ultra-conservative monculturalist, defender of American students from the red horde of social studies educators–derided (it was certainly not a critique or review) a new book by the Eric Gutstein and Bob Peterson from Rethinking Schools<\/i><\/a> in Milwaukee, Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ravitch’s WSJ<\/i> article is a small sample of her career-long attacks on curriculum and pedagogical practices that are intended to produce public education in the public interest (as opposed to education in the interest of Plato’s Republic<\/i>). In this context, here op-ed is not necessarily remarkable or surprising, though it is another indication of the schlock that passes for “intellectual critiique” of progressive educational practices from the right. (See the Where the Blog has No Name post “Shut Up and March” for more on this issue.)<\/p>\n

[Below is Ravitch’s op-ed and the letter to the WSJ<\/i> from Gutstein and Peterson.]Ethnomathematics<\/a><\/p>\n

By DIANE RAVITCH<\/p>\n

Wall Street Journal
\nJune 20, 2005; Page A14<\/p>\n

It seems our math educators no longer believe in the beauty and power of
\nthe principles of mathematics. They are continually in search of a fix
\nthat will make it easy, relevant, fun, and even politically relevant. In
\nthe early 1990s, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics issued
\nstandards that disparaged basic skills like addition, subtraction,
\nmultiplication and division, since all of these could be easily performed
\non a calculator. The council preferred real life problem solving, using
\neveryday situations. Attempts to solve problems without basic skills
\ncaused some critics, especially professional mathematicians, to deride
\nthe “new, new math” as “rainforest algebra.”<\/p>\n

In a comparison of a 1973 algebra textbook and a 1998 “contemporary
\nmathematics” textbook, Williamson Evers and Paul Clopton found a dramatic
\nchange in topics. In the 1973 book, for example, the index for the letter
\n“F” included “factors, factoring, fallacies, finite decimal, finite set,
\nformulas, fractions, and functions.” In the 1998 book, the index listed
\n“families (in poverty data), fast food nutrition data, fat in fast food,
\nfeasibility study, feeding tours, ferris wheel, fish, fishing, flags,
\nflight, floor plan, flower beds, food, football, Ford Mustang,
\nfranchises, and fund-raising carnival.”<\/p>\n

Those were the days of innocent dumbing-down. Now mathematics is being
\nnudged into a specifically political direction by educators who call
\nthemselves “critical theorists.” They advocate using mathematics as a
\ntool to advance social justice. Social justice math relies on political
\nand cultural relevance to guide math instruction. One of its precepts is
\n“ethnomathematics,” that is, the belief that different cultures have
\nevolved different ways of using mathematics, and that students will learn
\nbest if taught in the ways that relate to their ancestral culture. From
\nthis perspective, traditional mathematics — the mathematics taught in
\nuniversities around the world — is the property of Western Civilization
\nand is inexorably linked with the values of the oppressors and
\nconquerors. The culturally attuned teacher will learn about the counting
\nsystem of the ancient Mayans, ancient Africans, Papua New Guineans, and
\nother “non-mainstream” cultures.<\/p>\n

Partisans of social justice mathematics advocate an explicitly political
\nagenda in the classroom. A new textbook, “Rethinking Mathematics:
\nTeaching Social Justice by the Numbers,” shows how problem solving,
\nethnomathematics and political action can be merged. Among its topics
\nare: “Sweatshop Accounting,” with units on poverty, globalization, and
\nthe unequal distribution of wealth. Another topic, drawn directly from
\nethnomathematics, is “Chicanos Have Math in Their Blood.” Others include
\n“The Transnational Capital Auction,” “Multicultural Math,” and “Home
\nBuying While Brown or Black.” Units of study include racial profiling,
\nthe war in Iraq, corporate control of the media, and environmental
\nracism. The theory behind the book is that “teaching math in a neutral
\nmanner is not possible.” Teachers are supposed to vary the teaching of
\nmathematics in relation to their students’ race, gender, ethnicity, and
\ncommunity.<\/p>\n

This fusion of political correctness and relevance may be the next big
\nthing to rock mathematics education, appealing as it does to political
\nactivists and to ethnic chauvinists.<\/p>\n

It seems terribly old-fashioned to point out that the countries that
\nregularly beat our students in international tests of mathematics do not
\nuse the subject to steer students into political action. They teach them
\ninstead that mathematics is a universal language that is as relevant and
\nmeaningful in Tokyo as it is in Paris, Nairobi and Chicago. The students
\nwho learn this universal language well will be the builders and shapers
\nof technology in the 21st century. The students in American classes who
\nfall prey to the political designs of their teachers and professors will
\nnot.<\/p>\n

Ms. Ravitch is a historian of education at New York University, a senior
\nfellow at the Brookings Institution, and a member of the Koret Task Force
\nat the Hoover Institution.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/0,,SB111922877339463719-email,00.html<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

OUR RESPONSE:<\/p>\n

Justice for the World, Through Mathematics<\/p>\n

Diane Ravitch (“Ethnomathematics,” editorial page, June 20) can’t seem to
\nget anything to add up quite right in her critique of our book,
\nRethinking Mathematics.<\/p>\n

First she ridicules the idea that math instruction can’t be neutral but
\nthen asserts that the only purpose of math is to help students become
\n“the builders and shapers of technology in the 21st century.” That’s not
\npolitical?<\/p>\n

Ms. Ravitch also implies that students who rethink mathematics won’t play
\na part in building and shaping our future. What about helping students
\nbecome the people who will make the world a better place? Shouldn’t
\neducators suggest that math can help solve poverty, the AIDS crisis,
\nglobal warming, overreliance on fossil fuels, and so many other vexing
\nproblems? Why is it a curricular crime to suggest that maybe math could
\nhelp people and the environment? It’s our experience that when students
\nrecognize that math can focus on real world issues, their motivation to
\nlearn increases.<\/p>\n

Finally, Ms. Ravitch asserts that a socially responsible mathematics
\nlacks rigor. Where is her evidence? Indeed it’s Ms. Ravitch’s critique
\nthat lacks rigor. Instead of actually evaluating the substance of our
\nbook, she lists the titles of various chapters. We think it is teachers’
\nresponsibility to help students sharpen their analytical skills through
\nmathematics so that they might contribute to social and ecological
\njustice.<\/p>\n

Bob Peterson and Eric Gutstein
\nMilwaukee<\/p>\n

(Messrs. Peterson and Gutstein are the editors of “Rethinking
\nMathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers”)<\/p>\n

Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2005<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the June 30 Wall Street Journal Diane Ravitch–right-wing historian of education, nativist, ultra-conservative monculturalist, defender of American students from the red horde of social studies educators–derided (it was certainly not a critique or review) a new book by the Eric Gutstein and Bob Peterson from Rethinking Schools in Milwaukee, Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-studies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ross\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ross\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ross\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ross\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ross\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ross\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ross\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ross\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ross\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}