A roundabout journey to Mathematics Education

Never could have imagined my current footsteps when I was a kid.  Being Asian Canadian, I've certainly fought against the "positive" stereotype when I was a teenager, and well into my university years.  I acknowledged the fact that I was good at mathematics, but I definitely ignored the fact that I enjoyed it.  You know the stereotype.  You've probably heard about it in your school, or maybe even in your classroom.  "Asians are naturally better at mathematics."

I have a lot of concerns that immediately associates with this stereotype.  I am not even sure how I am going to organized my thoughts.  I will begin with the following study that examines the effect of positive stereotypes on Asian-American Women.

Although Asian Americans are often characterized as a "model minority" (Kao, 1995), this characterization may in itself be quite limiting (Lee, 1996)... Ho, Driscoll, and Loosbrock (1998) found that Asian-American students who performed poorly on a mathematical test were given substantially fewer points by graders than European-American students who performed identically...[When] one's poor performance may undermine the reputation of one's group,... Asian students may experience unique performance pressures when positive stereotypes of their ethnic group are activated. 

In addition to pressures that surrounds self-identity, a large number of these students who have immigrant families have increased expectations for their children.  To be honest, I cringe a little when I hear about "the Asian A."  Sure, there are factors that contributes to this notion, but generalizing the issue -- generalizing the people -- is the worse way of approaching society.

Here's another paper that examined stereotypes.

To make it one step worse, people are internalizing these stereotypes.  They believe it.

Last year I overheard a conversation where one non-white student said to a white student that "all white people are good at skating."  Class hadn't started.  I immediately interjected.  More students came in, and it became a good conversation about stereotypes.  A lot of students thought about these issues for the first time, which was great.  It ended up cutting a bit into the first activity of our class, but I thought it was definitely worth it.

Okay, back to my experience.  I ignored the fact that I enjoyed mathematics until I am in 4th year university, finishing up my honours in Biology.  It suddenly hit me that I was enjoying mathematics so much more than all of the other courses combined.  I decided to pursue a mathematics degree from that point forward.

A different roundabout happened with Education.  I enjoyed teaching others even when I was a teenager.  I initiated the peer tutoring program in my high school, and continued to tutor students well into university.  What happened?  Why didn't I pursue teaching as a profession?  Thinking back, I grew up in a family where teachers and educators are not well regarded as a viable occupation.  In addition to this, there was also the common society impression of "Those who can't do, teach," which were extremely hurtful, and speaks to the misconception surrounding teachers (sadly sometimes perpetuated by a small number of current teachers).

I am sure a lot of you can speak to this stereotype with your own experiences.  I will just let Taylor Mali speak for me:

I don't necessarily agree with the little examples he may endorse (for example I am a big fan of group work, and don't think I can stand not having group work happen in my classes), but it captures of spirit of the stereotype and our justified reasons for breaking it.

Flashforward to the present.  After my roundabout journey, I've landed in my current self.  Now I invested my time fully in mathematics education.  My past-time is basically reading about mathematics education, and thinking about education.  It doesn't feel like a chore because I enjoy it.  Recently with this blog, I am attempted to step out into the internet world, where I know more like-minded people roam.  I am fully immersing myself in mathematics education, and I love it.

Hopefully I will see some success and interact with others like me!