The memories of what I saw on Monday during a math exam had me daunted all night (the nightmare still lingers, sigh)
Seeing teenagers struggle, even some with no much struggles in them during the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSC) that started just yesterday was a devastating scene to any parent and concerned math teachers (why won't any teacher be concerned about student's success/failure afterwards?)
Today, the rate at which students at various levels are seen to dread mathematics can only make one wonder if there's more to it than other subjects, and yes there is!!!
One thing I've found profound about the subject is buried in two;
1. Math is Wrongly Defined.
Having privileged to have thought the subject at different classes of Junior and Senior Secondary (High) Schools with an extensive exposure to the various teaching methods, reaching learners of all backgrounds, I've come to realize that mathematics is beyond "abstract science of number".
Mathematics I agree with my role models; Benjamin Arthur and Nikola Tesla, that it is in three folds. These are:
Calculation
Inspiration
Application
"Mathematics is not only about solving for "Ex", but understanding "Why"
(Pun intended)
2. Math is a Universal Language .
The drudgery of calculations come as a result of the perception that stems from a common believe that math is just another subject and a difficult one to be precise.
But if we can begin to see math for what it is; a language of communication just like Japanese, Spanish or English, then even a little child will get fluent at it.
If for instance, a child could be taught 1+1 to equal 2, 1pen + 1pen to equal 2pens, then you can have the child to solve 1fifth + 1fifth to equal 2 fifth without having to find the LCM.
Understanding a couple of languages, one can say of course, that the different recognized languages of communication and instruction are very important but limited. Limited? Oh yeah! Let me explain...
No matter how fluent your English sounds, once you arrived in a francophone country, your eloquence of the Queen's English doesn't seem to matter much...
From the hills of the Congo to the fields of Venezuela, and down the valley of Malta, the language that binds us all together is Mathematics!
Even while American English differs from the British, and Mexican Spanish differs from the Spanish, Algebra cuts through all continent and the Quadratic formula remains the same with all races.
Not in fancies of permutation nor in the complexities of matrices. But in the beauty of probability and statistics, our daily life is laced with Mathematics.
I will like you to remember this;
Mathematics should not be treated as a mare subject of differentiating mean deviation from the mean, and I mean it! 😄
