Latest blog posts

What’s going on out there and who thinks what about it?
Opinion and observation on all aspects of raising and educating girls in today’s world...

  • Maths - geekdom or artistry?

    Friday 3 February 2012

    Categories: Education, Media Influence, Role Models

    I wonder if it’s time for a rethink. I’ve always believed that the reason many girls – particularly those in co-ed schools – tend to dislike maths is because anything they find difficult brings about a fear of failure. I have taught girls maths for years and experience tells me that, to succeed, girls need to feel safe – safe to make mistakes, safe to admit their misunderstandings and thus safe to fail.

    I thought this meant that the main thing girls need to succeed in maths is self-confidence. But journalist and maths advocate Alex Bellos believes children just aren’t bothered if they “can’t do” maths because, as far as they’re concerned, it’s a subject for geeks.

    Our society has a utilitarian approach to maths: it is viewed as useful and necessary. Every girl knows she has to “have maths”, but that’s not the same as enjoying it. Of course many girls do love the subject, thriving on the beauty of the patterns of numbers, the satisfaction of solving a problem and the elegance of the systems and structures. But far too many experience fear and insecurity studying a subject they view as both unrelated to their lives and difficult. They think it’s just not cool to be good at maths.

    Bellos puts forward a very persuasive argument for realising that in fact maths is far more than merely useful – that like Dickens and Shakespeare it is part of our cultural and intellectual heritage. That if only we, parents and teachers, could communicate that maths isn’t hard and boring – in fact, it’s sexy, exciting and underpins our universe – children would approach it with interest and curiosity. He gives ten reasons to love maths and I can think of many more, including the fact that beautiful shells and elegant ferns grow according to strict mathematical laws.

    Cleverly, Bellos says that, if those girls who dismiss maths as the preserve of geeks knew that most of The Simpsons writing team are mathematicians and computer scientists, they might rethink their prejudice.

    I’m not so sure. I wish he was right. But I think it will take more than a few fascinating facts and “cool” maths fiends to change attitudes. I think it’s time to revisit this notion of geekdom and turn it on its head.

    Geek was once the term we used to label people on the margins – the fools, the freaks and the misunderstood. Over the years it’s become a word for the focussed, the intellectual and the highly intelligent instead. Society as a whole generally doesn’t like what the majority hasn’t experienced and, of course, that dislike simply perpetuates the lack of experience.

    But we don’t always want to run with the crowd. Look at Lady Gaga – certainly different, non-conformist in all sorts of ways, but internationally and phenomenally successful. It’s not too much of a stretch of the imagination to see how, with a bit of a nudge, the meaning of the word geek can eventually evolve into something positively desirable.

    After all, a geek by any other name is an explorer, a visionary, someone with dedication, passion and the knowledge and skill to change the world. And what’s wrong with that?

    I can see them signing up for Further Maths already!

    Posted by Alison Morris

Your comments

Nobody has posted any comments yet, why not be the first?

Add my comment…