Social Justice Warriors in Seattle Propose to ‘Re-Humanize’ Grade School Math
The Seattle school district has proposed a controversial framework for K-12 math classes that asks students to debate ethnic-studies questions.
The goal? To “re-humanize mathematics through experiential learning.”
Seattle’s proposal portrays “math” as something that was appropriated by Western culture from people of color and used in systems of power and oppression.
Discussion topics include:
- How has math been used to oppress and marginalize people of color?
- Who really holds the power in a math classroom?
- How has math been used to free people from oppression?
- How do standardized testing systems marginalize people of color?
- How can math be used to promote resistance and liberation?
Seattle’s proposal is part of a nationwide effort to incorporate ethnic studies into other subjects. If all goes according to plan, Seattle’s ethnic studies team will have similar frameworks for all subjects submitted to the board for review by June.
“Seattle is definitely on the forefront with this,” says Robert Q. Berry III, President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. “What they’re doing follows the line of work we hope we can move forward as we think about the history of math and who contributes to that, and also about deepening students’ connection with identity and agency.”
Critics argue the addition of progressive assumptions about cultural appropriation will exacerbate racial tension in the classroom and make math more difficult.
“We all want students of color to be included, believe they can learn math, and see themselves as mathematicians,” says a math teacher who preferred to remain anonymous. “But you don’t need to talk about liberation and oppression and how Western mathematics has somehow taken over. It just turns people off and makes the goal of being inclusive that much tougher.”
“Did you realize when you subtracted one number from another that you were disenfranchising people by using Western math?” jokes Seattle radio host Dori Monson.
Author’s Note:
While it’s important to understand how math affects the real world, Seattle’s proposal is grossly misguided – not to mention the fact that math teachers are not ethnic studies teachers. Somehow, the liberals in Seattle have decided that being a liberal is more important than a basic education.
Editor’s Note: I was thinking this was a Saturday Night Live parody, but it is ACTUALLY REAL!
My head is going to explode.
This is so ridiculous . enough already, just go back to math
As a teacher, I understand whence this is coming. Everything in he classroom is becoming a power struggle. Students, even little ones, are taught at home to defy authority. When I was young I asked my Mother what I should do if my teacher told me to do something I knew she taught me was wrong. She told me to do it anyway then tell her. It was her job to deal with the teacher. Today, the teacher might reply, “Tough luck.”
Teachers actually get graded not on the academic successes of kids. That’s relative to their circumstances. They get graded on where the kids are socially, irrelevant of their academic learning.
I substituted in a class for kids who were close to getting kicked out. I was coteaching. The other teacher skipped an academic lesson and began to teach them how to interact with police officers. She claimed in the inner city, knowing how to interact with police was more important than academics.
Please keep my name anonomous. I could be fired for saying this.
Evil run amok!
I remember the “NEW MATH” was put in use in So Cal and it screwed with my son so much he running away because it made him so confused. He is still not right in the head due to the confusion it caused. He turned to booze and is now on disability and homeless. (other factors apply)
The country continues to collapse a little at a time, I give it thirty years, it’s all done.
This is just another example of how poor our public education system has become. Send your kids to a private school.
Making excuses for people to remain ignorant is the worst kind of assistance.
All, I believe, this Seattle nonsense is going to accomplish, is produce grade school children who are less able to add/subtract/multiply or divide and thus lead to an inability to progress in the more rigorous disciplines of advanced mathematics such as algebra, calculus, differential equations, etc. Not exactly the outcome that should be desired, especially in an area considered to be dominant in technology and aerospace
Absolutely disgusting! Please make all this BS stop! Where are the real educators in our country, or have they all been duped by the radical Left into a bunch of cowering cowards? I am so sick of the clarion call of racial and ethnic diversity. Whatever happened to critical thinking and diversity of thought? THAT’S what’s important!
With this kind of BS being taught in school in MATH classes,we’ll have kids who will grow up & not be able to make change for a dollar if the item is 25 cents.
I’ve been to stores where young people can’t figure a simply money transaction without the use of a calculator or in some cases asking Google how much change to give back a person in the transaction.
Math is a definitive subject that teaches how think in life works. It is easier for some than others and is used every day. It is the basis for sience, engineering, along with the basic actions we take every day. Quit trying to reinvent the wheel, it will always be round. Math gave you that smart phone you can’t live without, it sent people to the moon and back, the cars you drive, the buildings go to school in, the clothes you wear, the music you listen to, and the computer games you play.
Spend your time on showing more of the rewards from the field of mathmatics than trying to hook it to some ethnic ajenda. Math is a pure subject based in facts, not fantasy. Teach the subject and quite “trying to reinvent the wheel”.
What is sience? Perhaps they should have included English language into your math classes.
Frank S.
The real educators have been completely marginalized by the public sector unions. No one dares tells the truth that education is is no longer for the students, but for the teachers and the union management. Since the union-coddled teachers can’t TEACH math, their predictable tactic is to vilify it instead.
Segregation, by its very definition, can never bring anyone together.
Just remember, Seattle is the “Emerald City”, which makes it the capital of the Land of Oz! What else can you expect from that nest of lunatics except lunacy?
I am a retired NYC public school teacher, “Union loud and proud” and I worked very hard to make sure my elementary school students learned math concepts when I was teaching them math. The questions advanced by the Seattle people are thought provoking and have a “social component” to them, but are not geared to the mentality of grade school students, unless they are talking about 6-7-8 graders, which today is considered “middle school”. Mathematics is the study of calculating, measuring, patterns, structure and change. Grade school students need to be given “hands on” lessons so they can see and touch manipulatives to understand the actual calculations of 5+6, 12-3, 7 x 4, or 16•/•8. “Act it out” and “Use manipulatives” are key strategies to understanding mathematical ideas.
As to the idea that mathematics actually started in Africa, I Googled this topic and learned something interesting that I pass on to you. The “Lemombo bone” from Swaziland is about 35,000 years old (36th century BC) and has 29 distinct jagged edges, probably used to measure or track the lunar cycles. (These are per the Google article.) This bone came from a baboon!
The Greeks “conquered” the mathematics world between the 7th century BC and the 4th century BC, while the Mesopotamians (Iraqis) entered the mathematics world between the 5th century BC and the 3rd century BC.
Mathematics is logic, and is its own intelligence, just like verbal-linguistic, visual-spatial, physical, musical, ways with animals and nature, inter-personal and intra-personal are their own intelligences.
Itis my opinion our school system was ‘overthrown’ by enemies of the USA (aka Democrats in high powered positions) in the 1960s…These socialist lied their way into some state positions, worse yet, in the federal government.
Kent State was the diversion while the “socialist” were moving into the Ivy schools and various top state schools… forcing administrators to submit to their will..also the professors..(Read Judge Robert Bork’s book.”Slouching towards Gomorrah”)…Professors introducing our children to drug and experience permis
Since then, school textbook revisionist have been destroying facts and historical truth ever since.
Today..the product of that socialist brainwashing are administrators, teachers and professors are brainwashing our children in our Math classes! It isn’t enough that all other subjects, all textbooks..have been distorted with “socialist propaganda”. I guess the math textbooks don’t puke out enough socialist mind controlling propaganda. One hour just might allowing one hour of totally controlled thinking..oh no..They must stuff that hour also with their lying and deceit, because they fear some of those children might dream outside their control.. of freedom…of mind, body and soul. That stuff allowed in the USA prior to the 1960s.
“re-humanize mathematics through experiential learning.” Just what the hell does THAT mean? What ever happened to 1+1=2? Too hard for the Liberal Progressive Socialist Democrats?
The more of actual human history is revealed, the more the looney lefties run from it, shrieking denial, roaring to drown out the devastating facts that make them so uncomfortable. But they try to repeat their lies and distortions often enough, on young enough students, to replace reality with BS.
I been watching for years and have decided that the most moronic ideas seen so far come from the schools and the democraps. I think both should be investigated. I guess it is true those who can’t make it in the real world go into teaching but I would like to see teachers with more knowledge than the students. I don’t think that is going to happen. I was reading not long ago that the average IQ in the US is 100 and there are some 325 million people here. That means there are over 160 million people with below average intellect. No wonder the democraps do so many stupid things and our teachers seem to be barely functional with their ideas.
Maybe if they went back to teaching math like it was taught 40 years ago where 1 + 1 = 2 while skipping the little bubbles and blocks which they do now. It takes 30 minutes to do homework of 10 break down into sets compared to the traditional way which takes 5 minutes to do. I taught my 3 yr old how to do addition and subtraction in 2 hrs. It took 3 hrs to teach multiplication…he figured out the division on his own. Then when he went to school, he was told he didn’t know how to add and it became a headache doing his math homework. He’s now 12 and still fights his math homework.
“history of math”
While interesting, being able to apply and use those developments’ is far more important.
Electrical Engineering lives and dies by the Laplace transform and the Maxwell Equations.
f=(sigma) + j (omega) allowing for simultaneous solution of the Natural (sigma) and Forced (j(omega) response of a circuit in the frequency domain.
It is a powerful tool for the solution of differential equations.
Few outside of engineering seem to be able to make much use of it.
Take a look at wo runs our state, Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Olympia, and most o9f western Washington.
With this system will 2+2 still equal four?
Well after making the common core logic of 1+5=6+6=12÷4=3+1=4. We need to go back to teaching real math, where 1+1 =2 and 2+2=4. Now in English classes if you use the sentence, He pronounced he was leaving school, They would get an Outstanding report. Or if they found a person who was not breathing they would be pronounced dead, But only if this was confirmed by 8-4÷2 people who are doctors with a Master’s Degree in Greek Humour.