Thread by @mathematichole_

Whew. I've been waiting for this one.
*cracks knuckles*

WHERE and WHO we get mathematical knowledge from, shapes the content of the math being taught. The math traditionally taught in US schools is sourced primarily from the contributions of White European Men.

https://twitter.com/MaximeBernier/status/1414302864672006146

Y'all probably heard of Pythagoras, Euclid, or Archimedes and the theorems they are credited for. But do you know about Brahmagupta? or about the Ishango Bone? or ever wondered...

why we don't learn abt fractals in K-12? The belief system of a society motivates which math is taught. Educ scholar @GloriaLadson said the norms and values we promote in the US mimics the dominant White culture which “demands efficiency, consensus, abstraction, and rationality”.

In a society that is dominated by the power of the dollar (i.e., capitalism) it is no surprise to me (and others) why we learn the Eurocentric version of math that justifies & funds jobs to maintain the same system (e.g., STEM fields). See Math Ed Scholar Danny Martin's work.

The US and Western world values economics and that is reflected in our education system. That education system includes math. Those who are good at math are offered more upward mobility and opportunities within THIS system. (Read Danny Martin's work)

Now if we lived in a society with a different set of values then our mathematics and the education system along with it would again look different and be used differently.

@GloriaLadson also pointed out how Black culture is one composed of “rhythm, orality, communalism, spirituality, expressive individualism”, amongst other descriptors, that are not represented in our country’s traditional approaches to mathematics curriculum or teaching.

The version of mathematics from African, Indian, and other Indigenous societies is best reflected in how they created and used art, geometry, and patterns to shape and understand THEIR natural worlds and realities. And that was BEFORE any of the technology we have today.

In the interest of time and other things I need to do, here are some other resources that further describe what a mathematics culture is and how the people and society using it shape that culture.

Ron Eglash is a scholar who really gets into how our dependence on European culture undermines the math of hundreds of African societies with REAL EXAMPLES. Highly recommend checking out this TED talk of his bit.ly/3yTzhdr

Scholar Alan Bishop authored this amazing text about the culture of Mathematics. This book offers a framework and examples on how mathematics content and cultures can conflict. If u don't consider yourself a math person, then you probably relate to this snippet from the book.

Lastly, I want to plug the book "Inventing the Mathematician" by Sara Hottinger. This text is much more recent than the previous and can offer modern examples of how math culture is shaped. This book is great at showing how gender shapes math culture.

This is what I study and do on most days so there is so much more I can say to that original tweet. But for now I hope yall learned something from this thread. There is not ONE math.