Mathematics Is Meant to Be Enjoyed. Is That What We Teach?
For a long time, I have wondered what mathematics is really all about. Is it just numbers, equations, symbols and calculations? Or is it an art of telling how numbers communicate with each other?
The answer depends on the lens through which we look at it.
Through one lens, mathematics is truly an art of the mind. An artist needs colours, a canvas and an idea to create a picture. Mathematics creates pictures in our minds without needing any of these. It uses numbers, patterns and relationships to help us see things that may not even exist physically in front of us.
Even someone who does not particularly appreciate mathematics encounters its presence in everyday life. There is something fascinating about that. Take a fruit vendor. Whether he is a graduate or a school dropout, he still uses mathematics for his survival. A calculation which tells him the profit he has made is always something that makes his day. That small joy is a hint of what this subject is meant to be: enjoyed, celebrated and cherished. Yet, unfortunately, for many students, mathematics has become an emotional burden.
Think of a child who has just worked out an answer and sensed it was wrong. Before anyone says a word, the child’s hand slides over the page. It is a small moment, but it is the kind of moment children carry with them.
Where did we go wrong? And when did this subject, which has had so much to offer, become something that children dread?
I see mathematics as a subject of knowledge, a way of developing wisdom and a language for expressing thought. Somewhere along the way, that view has been replaced by one that only asks whether the answer is right or wrong. But is that how we judge every other way of learning?
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Think about how life teaches us. We make mistakes, experience their consequences, reflect on them and, hopefully, learn to make wiser decisions. We understand that mistakes are part of our experiences. We do not expect ourselves to get everything right the first time.
But why is it so different when it comes to mathematics?
We make mistakes in mathematics too. We try, arrive at an incorrect answer, revisit our steps and sometimes discover where our thinking went wrong. Yet, instead of treating these mistakes as opportunities to understand, we are often harsh on ourselves. And without meaning to, we pass that harshness on to the children around us.
Who taught us that the answer matters more than the thinking behind it?
We treat an incorrect answer almost as though it were a sin. Children become embarrassed, lose confidence and, eventually, some begin to distance themselves from the subject altogether. Many of us carry that distance into adulthood.
Can you remember the first time a wrong answer made you feel small?
No one calls an artist’s first sketch a failure. We call it a draft. So what would change if we looked at a wrong answer the same way?
Why should a mistake in mathematics make us feel any less capable of learning?
Have we ever really asked ourselves these questions?
