Showing posts with label Department of Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Department of Education. Show all posts

Saturday, February 13, 2021

Ethnomath - Dismantling Racism in Maths Instruction

 



Is all well with US public school mathematics? Hardly, our kids crossed the finish line in 38th place among developed countries in 2018. Not good at all, but help's on the way, at least in Oregon where the Department of Education's addressing the heart of the problem, racism.

That's right, racism, which is why the Beaver State's teachers are being encouraged to take a course entitled, "A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction: Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction." Yes indeed, no wonder our kids' test scores are almost on a par with Zimbabwe's, it's all because of "white supremacy." But don't take my word for it, here's the course description:

"White supremacy culture infiltrates math classrooms in everyday teacher actions. Coupled with the beliefs that underlie these actions, they perpetuate educational harm on Black, Latinx, and multilingual students, denying them full access to the world of mathematics."



Leaving aside "Latinx," which no one south of the border actually uses, the defenders of "ethnomath" continue. Thanks to "white supremacy" educators fallaciously impose objective standards of right and wrong on their oppressed charges:

"This reinforces the idea that there is only one right way to do math. The history of mathematics, its colonization, and what is deemed as 'acceptable' knowledge is rich and complex, therefore, the way that mathematics is taught in the United States needs to be interrogated because it currently centers Western, Eurocentric ways of processing and knowing information."




Only one right way to do math? Thanks a lot, Cecil "Rhodes." No, there is no such thing as objective truth in mathematics, such racism:

"The concept of mathematics being purely objective is unequivocally false, and teaching it is even much less so... Upholding the idea that there are always right and wrong answers perpetuate objectivity as well as fear of open conflict."

Objectivity's unequivocally false, says the subjectivist making an incoherent universal truth claim. No matter, we make the rules now and you'd better buckle under or taste the stainless steel blade of liberal Fascism, or would that be Bolshevik tyranny? Regardless, as our man on the ground in Georgia comments, "Hopefully they'll use ethnomathematics for bridge building and such."




You'll note that Satan is the Father of Lies and a murderer from the beginning. Not least of our children's education.

This post is dedicated to ZZ, a fearless teacher in the face of tumbleweave adversity.

Your Constant Pal,

LSP