Edward Doolittle in “Mathematics as Medicine” gave a brief biography of his life and his Indigenous root. He states “One of my major life goals is to resolve the apparent incompatibility between the two aspects of my identity, being a mathematician and being an Indigenous person.” In his journey to know his culture, he understood that it is not simple to extract some mathematical concept from Indigenous culture and simply teach them to students, rather deep understanding and consideration are required. He believes mathematics is “an essentially simple way of thinking” so we can “pull mathematics into Indigenous culture rather than how mathematics might be pushed onto Indigenous people”. He points out several examples that show the relationship between Indigenous culture and mathematics. For instance, he describes the Medicine Wheel as a tool that Indigenous people have been used in their life, he described that Medicine Wheels “were used not to divide and analyze, but as “maps” of processes of ceremony, thanksgiving, timekeeping, and communication.” As I understand from Doolittle explanation, elders Indigenous have a spirit with a special power and supremacy to feel and understand things that ordinary people might not sense. He even brings up some related examples. He indicates that “we can weigh and measure and test, but true complexity cannot be handled by simple means”. I personally believe in scientific proof of phenomena and events, so, providing some examples and signs might look like justification. However, if I could be agreed with these power, I do not understand how Doolittle connects this power to mathematics learning. Although I am unfamiliar with Indigenous' culture, I think people’s belief is rooted in their culture and tradition. Since a culture might have hundreds of years of history its interpretation and understanding take time and efforts. Now, my question is what do you think of these kinds of powers that Doolittle mentioned in their elders?
On the other hand, “Balancing Equations And Culture: Indigenous Educators Reflect on Mathematics Education” is mainly a conversation between Doolittle and Glanfield. This conversation has clarified many parts of “Mathematics as Medicine” by Doolittle for me. I have to admit that I did not understand well Doolittle’s paper till I read this article. Doolittle and Glanfield have discussed their opinion regarding mathematics education from the perspective of Indigenous people. The main point of their conversation was, how mathematics education can help people to achieve peace, power and good mind in their life. This point of view reminds me of my ancestors who believed in having good thoughts, words, and behavior in their life. I am wondering, how mathematics knowledge can help people to achieve these goals? Or how my ancestors involved these beliefs in mathematics as a part of their life. As I have observed in Persepolis (an ancient city in Iran, back to 2500 years ago) the statues represented several patterns of respect and love among people, a combination of mathematical knowledge and peace. The stone tablets that are discovered from this city shows how my ancestors fairly calculated the salary of workers; who built the Persepolis; which is a true prove of mathematical understanding and human right. Another important matter that Doolittle and Glanfield discussed was forcing people to learn mathematics and to what extent its effect people’s life. Now my questions are, is learning mathematics necessary for everybody? In high education level, should each major be involved to the mathematics courses? Is it fair for some people to be failed in their study just because of lack of mathematical knowledge, even mathematics is not the main part of their training?
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ReplyDeleteMost, if not all, cultures are taught to respect and revere their elders. It seems Doolittle is saying that you cannot disconnect the mathematics from the culture, that they are intertwined. In many cultures, particularly indigenous ones, so much of the traditional learning is through an oral tradition as well as experiential. Elders are the gatekeepers of the past, the wisdom of the ages. Perhaps it is easier to think of power the elders have to “see what cannot be seen by the rest” as the elders having the most in-depth knowledge and awareness of the culture. This would make them seem able to recognize and interpret feelings and events that others would miss. Age is wisdom, is it not?
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your second question, I think that it could be beneficial for all majors at the university to have some courses in mathematics, if only at the 100-level. I think mathematics teaches a way of thinking and seeing the world. It is certainly only one perspective, but a valid one nonetheless. I think that preservice teachers need to have a much stronger background in mathematics, as many currently only take the prerequisite for elementary teaching. Mathematics can be connected to many other disciplines, such as art, and when different subjects are shown to be related and complementary, the learning is strengthened.
My understanding of Doolittle’s writing is that math seen as power is not necessarily an Indigenous cultural value, but more linked to Western technological advances, to analyzing and simplifying. And, he explains that power in Indigenous thought is connected to building up complex responses in relation to phenomenon, is ethical and has an element of humility.
ReplyDeleteI have always had a hard time really understanding how some people don’t seem to like math. When I hear that, I feel that they don’t really know math, or haven’t found their own personal connection. So maybe the root of difficulty in math comes from a limited learning experience. That said, I think that the idea of a specific math course being a prerequisite or a measure for admission to an academic program may be an oversimplification, a disconnected bureaucratic tool, in many cases. The example of the person who was not able to become a teacher because of her failure of a math class is unfortunate. I think that other factors for vocation entrances, like interpersonal relationship skills and cultural consciousness, might be at least as valuable in many cases.
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ReplyDeleteDoolilttle noted that "we have survived" --implying without western math, the Indians have continually conquer obstacles in building relationships with nature,human and spirit. Without weighing down math itself,he was more than proud of indigenous math skills and tactics which he viewed them as "natural" and powerful. My understanding of Doolittle's notion is that he concerned that math has multiple layers and facets and we should bot approach the subject with one-size-fit-all mindset.
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