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Reader comment on:
Do Social Issues Belong in Math Class?

Submitted by Kathleen Kesson, Jan 24, 2007 09:54

Re: Do Social Issues Belong in Math Class? by Gary Shapiro

Professor Gutstein raises some important questions that none of the critics of the social justice and math conference address. Why is there an assumption that people who wish to bring real world social justice issues into the math curriculum are any more "ideological" than teachers who teach from a math textbook in which the word problems feature product placement for Nike shoes, Barbie dolls, or Cocoa Frosted flakes? Both approaches claim that their goal is "relevance." While the former might actually get students to think about housing patterns or the incidence of asthma in their neighborhoods, the other seems geared to encourage mindless consumption. Now isn't that just a tad ideological? When I was a graduate student in an educational research class, we all had to read (on our own time) "How To Lie With Statistics" a delightful little book first published in 1954 that exposes the non-neutrality of mathematics. It was an eye opener.

Full disclosure: while I am not involved with the math conference, I am a professor at Long Island University.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
In a journalistic attempt to polarize the discussion around integrating social issues and mathematics, the author makes a gross error... [MORE]	Ben Markunas	Jan 27, 2007 18:16
Gary Shapiro, I am one of the organizers of this upcoming mathematics education conference and a long time teacher of college... [MORE]	S E Anderson	Jan 24, 2007 17:06
S E Anderson writes on Jan 24, 2007 17:06 "However, if we accept the latter, then there is something fundamentally wrong... [MORE]	Haim	Jan 25, 2007 11:28
Re: Do Social Issues Belong in Math Class? by Gary Shapiro Professor Gutstein raises some important questions that none of the...	Kathleen Kesson	Jan 24, 2007 09:54
Kathleen Kesson writes on Jan 24, 2007 09:54 "Why is there an assumption that people who wish to bring real world... [MORE]	Haim	Jan 25, 2007 12:43
"Students are not empty vessels when they enter a classroom; they already know and care about things like Nike shoes,... [MORE]	Shasa Ward	Feb 6, 2007 06:28
Originally, I wrote, "...if your goal is to teach math..." then you will use real world examples that are... [MORE]	Haim	Feb 8, 2007 20:43
Respondent Haim, as we all do, speaks from an ideology. His, as does Dr. Ravitch's, proposes that (1) our public... [MORE]	Brian R. Lawler	Mar 1, 2007 09:54
My thanks to the several correspondents and their revealing comments. So far, in this discussion, we have learned that... [MORE]	Haim	Mar 5, 2007 08:57
"Let us make other parts of our lives and the world in which we live 'MEANINGFUL to the students.'" -... [MORE]	Shasa Ward	Jul 2, 2007 11:30

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Do Social Issues Belong in Math Class?