Mathematics for Human Flourishing

1. One of the points that stood out to me was the idea of math typically being attributed to mathematicians or only a select few. I've found it unfortunate how, at least in my experience, there seems to be a fixed mindset assigned to math - as though someone either "has a math brain" or does not. Not only does it undermine the effort someone made to learn the material, but it also makes it seem like math is this exclusive club "math people" are born into and no one else stands a chance of entering. It's both lonely for those who love math and discouraging for those who have trouble problem-solving in the typically accepted way. However, I think it is important to frame problem-solving as a human activity, and therefore linking math to an everyday activity that everyone does, which there are strategies for that we can explore. 

The other point that made me stop was math as human flourishing. Francis Su claims "mathematics cultivates virtues that help people flourish" (p. 10), and while I appreciate and agree that math needs to be humanized and placed in real-life contexts to assist in framing math as something everyone can access and can improve their skills in, I find this description slightly unhelpful. In my opinion, every subject can arguably be framed as something that cultivates virtues that help people flourish. For example, art is interconnected with creativity, cooking (apart from directly helping our basic need to eat) requires patience, science can teach responsibility etc. So if everything feeds human flourishing, why would someone choose to focus on math, especially if they have had negative experiences with it, heard negative attitudes surrounding the subject, or been discouraged from pursuing it? I still agree with the solution lying within providing context for math so that it becomes in-reach, however, I personally don't see the point of linking math to virtues.

2. I think the phrase "Every being silently cries out to be read differently" means students don't want to be placed in the stereotypes that are attributed with them based on race, gender, reputation or something else beyond their control. I think students ultimately want to be seen. Parker J. Palmer says, "The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed — to be seen, heard and companioned exactly as it is," (https://onbeing.org/blog/the-gift-of-presence-the-perils-of-advice/). I believe this is what students want - to be able to explore freely without someone swooping in to impose their advice and judgements based on their own experiences and ideas of reality. Students want access to experiences that will help them achieve goals that speaks to their souls and for others to witness their success in doing so. 

I know that I have personally felt or directly been discouraged by university professors when trying to learn higher level math. I feel that there were other problems at play here - limited time to learn (3 months for an excess of knowledge covered in one course), problems with standardized testing/grading etc., and lack of formative feedback, but instructors were also at fault. There was this feeling that the professors were these experts way above us, which was true in terms of the knowledge they held; however, some acted as though the amount of knowledge they held entitled them to be gatekeepers to the subject. Even though office hours were there so we could go to professors for help, some would be very condescending or act as though our level of understanding was so low that it was a waste of time to even try to explain the concepts to us. Because of this atmosphere, I constantly felt scared to admit I didn't understand or acted like an explanation made sense when it really didn't. I have sensed that same feeling in my students based on their past experiences with math and I would always try to make it really clear that I was there to answer any question they had, and that the type of questions they asked had no bearing on how "smart" I thought they were.