Not So “Bad at Math” After All
A report from The 74 on the pervasive concept of being “bad at math” led me to think about my own history with math.
The feeling of being “bad at math” still strikes a chord in me, even after making a career of working with data and research. Reading this article, what especially resonated with me is the question of how we make sense of the meaning of math.
Two ah-ha moments about the meaning of math helped my younger self - who was very much a lover of reading and writing and a hater of math - see math in a new light.
First, my older brother told me that learning math is like learning another language. He helped me see how I could apply skills I already had and enjoyed to an area where I struggled.
Second, I eventually came to understand that numbers and mathematical formulas don’t have to be impersonal, hypothetical or abstract. In the social sciences (among other fields), numbers represent people and meaningful aspects of their lived experiences.
In other words, math can tell us stories and can help us tell stories. For me, this was a lightbulb moment - the missing connection that took math from the abstract to the real and made all the difference in how I approached and felt about math.
All that said, the 74 also reminded me that I have a lot to learn about evidence-based math instruction; here’s my running reading list:
