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June 20, 2005

Ethnomathematics

Dad sent me a Wall Street Journal piece by Diane Ravitch, on "ethnomathematics." You have to be a subscriber to the Journal to read it, however, so I found a different Ravitch article on the same subject for your reading "pleasure." "Ethnomathematics" is the theory that minority children will learn math best if they are taught about their culture's mathematic progression and heritage. For instance, Hispanic children will learn math best if they are taught about the Mayan number system (but not, of course, any math tied to Spain).

Let me come right out and say it. I'm educating and raising my kids to be successful. I'm educating and raising them to be leaders. I'm educating them to have a full and satisfying life, doing whatever it is they want to do. And they'll be able to do this because they will have the knowledge and the tools to do whatever it is they want to do.

Kids who learn math according to their ethnicity will not. As Ravitch says:

Particularism is akin to cultural Lysenkoism, for it takes as its premise the spurious notion that cultural traits are inherited. It implies a dubious, dangerous form of cultural predestination. Children are taught that if their ancestors could do it, so could they. But what happens if a child is from a cultural group that made no significant contribution to science or mathematics? Must children find a culturally appropriate field in which to strive? How does a teacher find the right cultural buttons for children of mixed heritage? And how in the world will teachers use this technique when the children in their classes are drawn from many different cultures, as is usually the case? By the time that every culture gets its due, there may be no time left to teach the subject itself.

I've been called racist for embracing a classical education, and rejecting multiculturalism. What amazes me is that the proponents of ideas like ethnomathematics don't seem to realize how terribly racist they themselves are. Math is math. Numbers are numbers. Isn't it better to assume that a child of any race can learn mathematics well?

Posted by lynx at June 20, 2005 9:12 AM

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Posted by: TheOtherBlogger at June 21, 2005 4:14 AM

Posted by: concierge at June 21, 2005 8:27 PM

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