“Sue Ellen Adds It Up”, one of the 2015-episodes of the most classic book and television series, hit the nail on the head by discussing a very relevant issue and a recent school-wide initiative – breaking down students’ mindset of “I am not math person!”
This episode of Arthur might just relate to many third-graders who are experiencing math anxiety. At the same time, the episode debunked many myths of math mindsets.
It turns out that Sue Ellen, who was known to be athletic, artistic, and well-traveled, believed that she was bad at math. She labelled herself as not a “math person”. Her reasoning included:
“No one in my family is good at math”
“I’m artistic”
“We get along fine without using math [in everyday life]”
Debunking myths:
There is no such thing as a “math person” or not a “math person”. We are all good at different things. We have different skills. Skill sets are not fixed. They are malleable. By applying a label, students are suggesting that they cannot gain any mathematical skills. In turn, students become disengaged in their math learning. This is myth #1, which tends to push the vicious cycle forward.
One of Sue Ellen’s friends in the show, Prunella, helped her break her mindset that “we live our daily lives without using math”. Prunella showed Sue Ellen that estimating, measuring, guessing and checking are all mathematical processes we use in our everyday life. In fact, These are important skills that are throughout K-12 mathematics curriculum.
“I can’t do math without a calculator!” said Sue Ellen. Well, Prunella told Sue Ellen to use rounding as a method to help make mental math easier. The more practice, the easier mental math becomes!
“I’m artistic! So I am not a math person” – Here’s the question! WHY CAN’T WE BE BOTH? They are not mutually exclusive. As mentioned, skills are malleable.
Why is this important?
Parents, understanding and debunking these myths are just as important to you as it is to your young learners. According to Dr. Erin Maloney, parents who are anxious about mathematics tends to transfer this negative mindset about mathematics onto their kids. To find out more, here’s the article from the CBC.
As a college professor who also gets to work with little learners in extracurricular math programs, I have come to a greater understanding of the way early learning and development might influence future achievements.
One of the greatest challenge we face within the college learning community is the diversity of mathematics skills we see in newly enrolled students. On top of providing college math prep, student success services, and tutoring services, one of the key initiatives we push for is to break the idea of “I am not a math person”. I strongly believe that no math prep or support services would measure up until students’ attitude about themselves as a math learner changes positively.
Written by Mandy Lam
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