Like many other subjects, the learning of mathematics has created controversy in recent months in the United States. Teachers and educational authorities want to fight once morest inequalities in this strategic subject, but their recommendations are debated.
“Is math racist? The debate rages, titled USA Today on its front page in December. “Bold recommendations to make math more inclusive are turning the education community upside down. Opponents of this move say it is actually promoting a race to the bottom,” explains the American newspaper.
If the title ofUSA Today was provocative himself, the controversy is very real. The starting point :
Many students from poor families and minorities have not done well in math, for a long time […]. This later translates into big disparities in high-paying science careers, […] where 70 % of jobs are held by whites and 65 % by men.”
If the observation is shared, the proposed remedies divide. The question is how “to give a boost to students who have been struggling for a long time without restraining those who are more comfortable”, abstract USA Today.
Racial inequalities in math class
Several types of measures are involved. “Some establishments eliminate level classes in mathematics to place all students in the same class regardless of their skills, on the one hand indicates the newspaper. And they are curricularizing data science courses with the same prestige as mathematical analysis, which has long been the gateway to scientific careers and elite universities.”
“Another controversial question, continues USA Today, that of the extent to which real-world problems involving racial and social inequalities should be included in the teaching of mathematics.” For example by studying statistics on the incarceration rate of blacks and whites.
It was California that set things on fire by considering including these various measures in recommendations to its educational community. For the time being, only a preliminary version of this educational “framework”, of a non-binding nature, has been unveiled. He also advocates a more “conceptual” approach to mathematics, emphasizing problem solving rather than learning.
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Gabriel Hassan
