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Study Finds Math Classes Cause ‘Intellectual Trauma’ to Minorities

Study Finds Math Classes Cause ‘Intellectual Trauma’ to Minorities

“When Black female students are repeatedly disciplined for being social, loud, or goofy in the mathematics classroom, they experience mathematical violence”

We need to return to just teaching everyone the basics, rather than making excuses for certain groups.

Toni Airaksinen writes at Substack:

Math classes cause “intellectual trauma” to minorities: STUDY

Mathematical Pedagogies” in classrooms, arguing that such an approach is necessary because minorities—especially Black girls—face “violence and trauma” in math education.

“When Black female students are repeatedly disciplined for being social, loud, or goofy in the mathematics classroom, they experience mathematical violence,” claim the authors of Designing Mathematics Curricula That Center Students’ Brilliance.

The research team—including Lara Jaisen, Michael Lolkus, doctoral student Marlena Eanes Snowden, and Dr. Leslie Dietiker of Wheelock College—contends that while many believe math is politically neutral, it is actually “steeped in whiteness and heteromasculinity.”

“Whiteness is a global phenomenon, impacting marginalized students and communities… and mathematics curricula are saturated in whiteness.”

The academics assert that “whiteness” is pervasive in math classes and curriculum structures, explicitly stating:

“As a culture, whiteness is toxic in society and in education. More specifically, in society, whiteness presents through norms including—but not limited to—perfectionism, a sense of urgency, individualism, and objectivity.

They argue that these cultural values place an “additional burden” on minority students, making them feel unwelcome and alienated in math classrooms.

Math as a Source of ‘Intellectual Trauma’

The authors repeatedly describe math education as a space of “violence” for minority students:

“Making students feel unwelcome and incompetent alienates them in mathematics class and contributes to intellectual trauma and violence in mathematical spaces.

They claim that “Black Feminist Mathematics” can help students “heal” from this trauma by integrating academic and social experiences:

“Focusing on academic and social integration supports our investigation of the ways in which mathematics curricula can promote healing from intellectual trauma and violence in mathematical spaces through attention to the minds and bodies of students.”

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Comments

How much did this research cost?

    Besides the obvious bigoted slant of the “research”, you really have to look at the people involved in the “study”. A supposed person with a doctorate, a doctoral student and a couple other students. Their bigoted “study” raised serious concerns about their professionalism. Which ever institution gave that doctorate to the leader of the “study” should seriously consider taking it back and have that person go through the process again. All the other students in this “study” should have their thesis looked at and possibly voided.

The Gentle Grizzly | January 20, 2025 at 10:25 am

Yet still another further different study excusing those with low impulse control.

The soft bigotry of low expectations has morphed into math is racist.

Colleges should offer courses in AfroMath?

Clown college.

    JohnSmith100 in reply to smooth. | January 20, 2025 at 2:14 pm

    “As a culture, whiteness is toxic in society”

    Offer free transportation to Liberia for these idiot grifters.

What if the math exam is graded on a curve, and foreign students from china are busting the curve?

The study starts with the false perception that learning math is a negative related to whiteness. They have allowed their prejudices to override common sense.

Woke is Broke

This is satire right?

Please tell me this is satire.

So what’s the answer? Opt black students out of math….yeah that will really fill the achievement gap.

    JohnSmith100 in reply to healthguyfsu. | January 20, 2025 at 3:13 pm

    Look at a black Bell Curve, and the statistical tables. A big part of the problem is low intelligence and loss of their religious grounding. Culture, which I cannot tell if it is a result of low intelligence or not.

As a white girl in high school algebra class. I remember having to watch the blackboard as the teacher explained the problem being solved. Then I had to go home to do home work. It was brutal!!! Mathematical violence!!!

So the Study has found a Qualitative Difference based on Race?

If the Study is valid, it provides a Qualitative Difference and reason to exclude individuals from jobs, scholarships and admittance to higher ed based on Race.

Not the good thing you thought it was.

    JohnSmith100 in reply to 1073. | January 20, 2025 at 4:39 pm

    Exclusion should be based on capabilities or lack of such. It happens that competence, intelligence, is not evenly distributed based on race.

JackinSilverSpring | January 20, 2025 at 5:19 pm

So, if black female students are social, loud and goofy in math class, it’s because math is a white man’s construct. What a lousy excuse for not wanting to master mathematics. Maybe black females shouldn’t be social, loud or goofy in math class so they can to master it.

They claim that “Black Feminist Mathematics” can help students “heal” from this trauma by integrating academic and social experiences:

What documentation do they have to support that claim? My guess is zilch/cero/zero. Every five years or so, there is a new theory, a.k.a. education fad, that will be the theory that will solve it all. Group learning, multiple learning styles, inclusion, what have you. The new education fad gets adopted en masse. Several years later, research announces that the new educational fad makes no difference in achievement.

No problem. The now old education fad is dead. Long live the next new education fad. Rinse and repeat.

..minorities—especially Black girls—face “violence and trauma” in math education.
Violence? Teachers are hitting them? Nonsense. Any teacher hitting a student would be gone from the classroom in a NY minute. “Violence” is rhetorical overkill. The “trauma” comes from being expected to actually work. 🙂

Arthur Chester | January 20, 2025 at 7:08 pm

If you sign up for a class that you realize despite your best efforts is above your head, then drop the class.

College students have been doing that since time immemorial.

Accept your reality — “your truth” — and move on.

Sjheesh

    PostLiberal in reply to Arthur Chester. | January 21, 2025 at 1:23 am

    In looking at Designing Mathematics Curricula That Center Students’ Brilliance.. (see link above), it is evident the article is about high school math , not college math.

    Maybe the authors of that article are correct. Maybe they are onto something. But my prediction is that five years from now, the article will end up in the dustbin of failed education theories.

    John Obu’s Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement, attempted to address the issue of the black-white achievement gap in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights. Shaker Heights did not like his conclusions, and didn’t try out any of his suggestions. Twenty five years later, the gap is still there in Shaker Heights. Maybe they should have tried out his suggestions. Why fixing the schools isn’t enough.

    I agree, I was a graduate from high school (top 5%), took Algebra, Geometry and Trig and Advanced Math in high school. I got to college and one class of Differential Equations got my head spinning. I was completely lost. I dropped the class immediately. I figured out I’m not a math whiz. Oh I’m a white male.

Eye roll!

All the absurd studies about how Black people don’t do well academically, in general, compared to Whites and Asians because there is always “racism” against black present. This study is laughable. This is because Black people want to avoid reality. While there are very smart, brilliant individuals among all races, the science of intelligence has found repeatedly, the mean IQ of Black people is one standard deviation below Whites, and even further behind those of East Asians and Ashkenazi Jews. Black people will never admit what science has found. These absurd studies and assertions are to avoid the truth that their mean IQ is not equal to the mean IQ of other races.

    Wait just a minute. I watch tv all day long and whenever I see black people in movies and tv commercials they are all rich, smart and successful—while white people are usually lazy, poor and stupid. Are you telling me that’s not so?

      jb4 in reply to Paula. | January 25, 2025 at 12:44 pm

      Hallmark has gone out of its way in Rom-Coms to place black supporting actors in superior positions – such as the black boss the leading, white actress reports to.

Accounting just messaged to let you know they’re implementing your policies against objectivity and perfectionism. Going forward they will rely on imprecision and bias regarding your contributions to society, Specifically, accounting and payroll will take into account your social credit status by submitting your anticipated pay to correction. Any non-divergence from previously stated standards and amounts will rely on the level of marginalization staff encounters while using math to implement generally accepted accounting principles.

Suburban Farm Guy | January 20, 2025 at 10:22 pm

A good education is key to improving your abilities and standard of living — and this garbage has no relation to a good education. By supposedly protecting kids from racism they actually are dooming them to a bad education and poor standards of living. Like everything progressives touch, it’s the opposite of their stated intentions.

Suburban Farm Guy | January 20, 2025 at 10:27 pm

Maybe they should get a 3.14159265359 in the face

““When Black female students are repeatedly disciplined for being social, loud, or goofy in the mathematics classroom, they experience mathematical violence”

From now on, anyone misusing the word “violence” to describe something that is clearly not violence gets a pedagogical punch in the nose to enable them to differentiate in the future.

IOW, they want to be loud, irritating, obnoxious, and rude in class and there’d better not be anybody telling them to sit down and behave properly. Since these people will never mature, they will never succeed – and they’ll blame others for their personal failures.
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