This morning I 'over-saw' students sitting a high-level mathematics examination. They were, I noticed, all Pakeha, bar one Maori girl and one Indian boy. The school population is some 27% Maori.
The focus and concentration of the students was palpable (is that possible? Palpable?). At the same time, they all seemed relaxed and comfortable. I guess those who are able at working with numbers aren't phased by levels of difficulty, unlike students sitting an English exam where the questions might be unexpected or provoke new lines of thinking - very distracting when there's a time limit and a requirement to keep on-topic! I tried the paper myself as I sat amongst the calculating students. Mathematical problems are interesting and it's satisfying to solve them one by one, but I don't get the same depth of satisfaction that I get from understanding an idea about, say, why someone might choose this or that course of action, the reasons why such and such a phenomenon occurred - I like the 'aha!' moment and while I know it can come from working numbers, it seems less connected to every day life. My sons and daughter do maths very well and I know it's enormously valuable in shaping thinking and fabricating the world but I'm happy for them to be expert and rely on their abilities when I need to math-up my own endeavours. And it was great to see, looking around me as I sat in the exam room, that there were all those other young people I can go to when the numbers don't add up.
4 comments:
The fibonacci sequence?
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1278/694780262_8874b4f225.jpg
Of course! How could I not have thought of it. If I might borrow your suggestion Anon...
How sad there weren't more Maori taking the exam.
The exam was an 'extra for experts' and the Maori children at the school might simply have not wanted to 'label themselves' as such. I'm not sure if this was the case.
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