Abstract
The history of mathematics speaks to the creation and discovery in diverse areas of the world. For instance, Babylonians knew about the Pythagoras’ Theorem well before the Greeks. Additionally, Pascal’s Triangle was utilized previously in China. In essence, there is a diversified field of Middle Eastern, Asian and African mathematics that is sometimes ignored in classroom teachings of mathematics. Mathematics is essentially an international field of study and language, which supersedes the barriers of culture, race or creed (Chapin & Johnson, 2006). Therefore, mathematics teachers need to explore ways of exploiting the rich heritage of the field of study in order to prepare children for their existence in a multicultural society. There are diverse ways through which mathematics teachers can help schoolchildren appreciate the universality inherent in mathematics while also making it an enjoyable, rewarding and relevant enterprise. Multicultural mathematics brings together experiences of people from diverse backgrounds, thus mathematics literature needs to reflect this diversity.
Regardless of their fields of specialty, teachers typically appreciate that students are highly motivated whenever they participate actively in their learning and deal with issues that pose great concern both to themselves and their communities. This presents a challenge to teachers, including mathematics teachers to ensure that literature provides an overview of issues which are pertinent to students from diverse multicultural backgrounds. This can only be achieved through the inclusion of features of a multicultural curriculum in mathematics while also finding close connections between literature and mathematics. Literature aimed at school education continues to move beyond the English curriculum (Uy & Frank, 2012). This is primarily because other subject areas, for instance, mathematics appreciate that subject literature has both value and relevance as a teaching tool. The use of literature is being encouraged in diverse fields, including IT, geography, history, music, science, design and technology, multiculturalism and mathematics.
Literature is quite relevant to mathematics since it opens up new experiences that enable students learn better with highly personal relationships to the subject than if they did not have literature (Courts, 2002). Literature is applicable to subjects such as science and mathematics where the textbook was considered the primary tool of learning. In mathematics, literature is used in conjunction with textbooks to ensure that students observe the everyday applications of the topic in question. Therefore, through literature, students are able to apply the topic being taught to their individual lives (Chapin & Johnson, 2006). Textbooks are ineffective since they present concepts conventionally, especially through an impersonal manner that encompasses one perspective. Therefore, literature is vital in mathematics since it offers a myriad of perspectives, which in turn, push students to develop personal concepts, as well as generalizations regarding the topic at hand.
The topic of multicultural education, as well as its inherent principles, has been in existence for quite some time now. In the 1930s, historian Carter G. Woodson discovered that unique educational requirements of African American children were ignored by most public schools. Multicultural education has been defined as encompassing at least three components; a concept or idea, a reform movement and a process. These three components deal primarily with change (Whitin, 2002). The assumption that underpins multicultural literature in mathematics is that the educational system appears to promote the status quo, which is notable rife with inequity along various lines, including, class, race, gender, social and ability. Another primary assumption is that students are essentially cultural, political and social actors and thus it is through their experiences with school wide change that they can effectively promote the achievement of social change. The last fundamental assumption behind multicultural education is that school wide change is crucial since it provides an assurance that students from diverse social class, race and gender can enjoy the same educational opportunities (Leonard, 2001). In addition, school wide change also means that all students, regardless of their demographic characteristics receive accurate and sufficient understanding and knowledge of the ever-changing human diversity inherent in the modern society.
In the study of mathematics, multicultural literature primarily benefits dominant-group students. In addition to promoting equitable opportunities in the study of mathematics, multicultural literature also promotes the public good. Mathematics lessons taught in a theoretically sound multicultural class setting helps all students develop the vital and diverse perspectives, which enable them to ask pertinent questions regarding ideologies, inequality, as well as their own miseducation (Fernandez & Yoshida, 2004). Following the increasing shift in terms of population demographics, the significance of multicultural literature is quite apparent. However, poor integration of multicultural content in the class environment is bound to backfire and cause immense damage. For instance, for poorly planned multicultural classrooms, what passes for multicultural literature is tantamount to festivals, food and fiestas. Rather than conduct systematic and rigorous investigations into political, cultural, historical and economic knowledge regarding diverse groups, students normally experience multicultural literature as a non-vigorous, extracurricular exercise, which encompasses the consumption of ethnic foods and conduct of ethnic dances.
Effective multicultural literature integrates various dimensions, including the knowledge-construction process, equity pedagogy, reduction of prejudice and empowering school, as well as social culture and structure. Multicultural literature provides these benefits while also ensuring the integration of mathematics content into lessons and the class environment (Schiro, 2004). However, one of the greatest deterrents to the achievement of these objectives is the issue of time. Time, as well as space constraints, makes it rather impossible for instructors to tackle extensively these dimensions in the educational situation.
A vast majority of mathematics problems are word-based problems. This means that students must be able to grasp grammar, comprehension and vocabulary before being capable of responding to the problem correctly (Strutchens, 2002). Mathematics students need to be discriminate readers; students who are able to read more are bound to have an advantage with regard to tackling word problems. Through the use of literature in the class, teachers can assist students enhance their confidence, especially with word problems by employing the use of stories as word problems while also assisting students work through these problems and constructing a base. An effective mathematics syllabus is one that endorses the reading of stories and poems and singing songs in order to realize mathematical meaning (Gates, 2001). Mathematics literature also needs to integrate other media. Multicultural literature also ensures that the language used in teaching mathematics is familiar to the child, especially with regard to the capacity level of the child. The use of such language will, in turn, make mathematics work relevant to students from diverse cultural backgrounds while also building their confidence.
There are diverse strategies that can be employed within the mathematics curriculum, which integrate multicultural literature in the classroom. The first strategy deals with providing a model or context through which students can acquire mathematics skills through the introduction of literature in the form of a topic unit or a theme. This theme will in turn spark the interest of the students in the concept being taught through literature (Barton, 2007). Concrete working units or manipulatives can be introduced through multicultural literature through the provision of support or ideas to the medium used in teaching mathematics. For instance, cookies or candy can be introduced as manipulatives while introducing the concept of division to students within a real-life situation that the students are able to identify with. The students are, thereby encouraged to think deeply regarding their personal situations and compose their own literature on the basis of this real-life problem presented in the classroom. This will ultimately inspire the creation of new, real-life mathematics problems, solutions and problems (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000).
When teaching mathematics to children, the teacher can make use of interesting children’s literature to pose fascinating problems or even present to the students viable and problems that they are familiar with, albeit from a different perspective. Such a strategy is bound to assist children discover the diversity of real-life situations for which a vast majority of people utilize mathematics. This also provides children the chance to scrutinize and assess vital mathematical concepts within a non-threatening environment (Schwartz, 2008). This assessment boosts the confidence of children in the subject of mathematics. Another notable and positive use for multicultural literature is to help students prepare for certain mathematical skills or concepts through the use of books as primary stimuli.
Literature in mathematics can effectively addresses multicultural issues, particularly through stories and tales that highlight and outline diverse cultures, as well as the way they make use of mathematics in their lives. This can be extended to a historic theme in which both fictional and non-fictional stories can be utilized to demonstrate mathematics applications through time. These themes also demonstrate how mathematics has been able to permeate the lives of individuals and society (Boaler, 2000). The use of such stories can assist students examine the way through which mathematics permeates all aspects and phases of their own culture well beyond classroom applications. Through the use of intriguing stories, teachers can assist students learn to consider mathematics as a way through which they can think about their world instead of being a solitary part of it. This means that through stories and books, students can learn to relate to mathematics as a part of their day-to-day lives.
The chosen topic is affects teaching perspectives both positively and negatively (Whitin, 2002). It affects teaching positively by helping the teacher understand that in order for students to learn new mathematics concepts, they need to discover the mathematics relationships themselves thus creating information from their experiences tactually, visually and through auditory functions. However, excessive focus on literature can distract the teachers from focusing on symbols and numbers, which are the primary mode of communication in learning and teaching mathematics. It is vital for teachers to focus their attention primarily on significant concepts of mathematics rather than focusing on non-essential aspects such as stories and poems (Barton, 2007). Overall, there is a need for literature to be used in a manner that helps to enrich the classroom, but not necessarily as the basis of instruction.
References
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