Mayan numbers taught in Somis school to help students learn math
Math has moved beyond numbers and formulas at Mesa School in Somis.
A group of sixth- and seventh-graders still crack open their textbooks and practice regular math skills most days. But once a week, they turn their math attention to history, culture and places far from Somis.
Teacher Jill Brody’s class started learning about Mayan math in September, part of the school’s efforts to incorporate “ethno-mathematics” into some of its classes.
Ethno-mathematics links math with culture. Some educators say it can help kids feel more connected to the subject and better understand the why and how behind the skills they learn in school.
“Math is not usually treated as a subject with a cultural context,” said Faviana Hirsch-Dubin, a former elementary school teacher and lecturer at UC Santa Barbara who is working with Mesa on the special math lessons. “Being able to feel some cultural connection to math or other subjects can enable students to feel more ownership of the subject matter.”
Ethno-mathematics is not the norm in public schools, said Hank Kepner, president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, but it can be a powerful tool for getting kids motivated and engaged in math.
“It can help kids feel that they’re part of the mathematics world,” Kepner said. They learn where various math skills came from historically and the many different ways people have looked at math. “It’s sort of a motivation for kids to make sense of mathematics.”
In many schools, there’s too much emphasis on testing, Kepner said. Getting the right answer is important, but that’s too narrow. “Math isn’t just rote answers without understanding,” he said.
Hirsch-Dubin started working with the Mesa Union School District last spring after meeting Superintendent John Puglisi. She has worked with various grade levels at the campus, exploring different cultures and how they relate to math.
“Most students don’t think about why they’re doing certain things in math,” Hirsch-Dubin said. “They just learn to do them.”
The school isn’t replacing regular math classes, just adding the ethno-mathematics lessons, she said.
“The biggest thing: It gives math a meaning and purpose,” said Brody, who didn’t even know what ethno-mathematics was before she signed up to teach summer school last year. Brody and Hirsch-Dubin worked with a group of migrant students in an ethno-mathematics program over the summer.
When Brody saw it in action, she asked Hirsch-Dubin to work with her students during the regular school year. Brody, a resource specialist, has a small group of sixth- and seventh-graders with some learning differences, she said. Ethno-mathematics was different and would grab their attention, she said.
In class recently, students practiced adding and subtracting using the Mayan number system and symbols, reinforcing skills they have learned using the regular math system, Brody said.
Whether the lessons will make a huge difference in student test scores, Brody wasn’t sure. “But it’s keeping them engaged in math,” she said. Students are making connections between different number systems and getting an opportunity to do higher-level thinking.
“It helps me in math, regular math,” said Ricardo Letona, 11. “It helps you learn a different way to do math, and it teaches about the Mayan culture.”
I read this article today and found it very interesting that this teacher was reaching into the different content areas to help students understand math. What was most disturbing however were the comments made by readers on the papers website. Many of them were appalled at the fact that students would be taught an ancient method as apposed to more traditional mathematics.
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