It now appears that in addition to history, social studies and literature, the move towards “woke” education is now including “woke” math in its curriculum.
A recent report by Fox news described how the Oregon Department of Education is encouraging teachers to take “ethnomathmatics” training in an effort to “dismantle racism in mathematics”.
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) recently encouraged teachers to register for training that encourages “ethnomathematics” and argues, among other things, that White supremacy manifests itself in the focus on finding the right answer.
An ODE newsletter sent last week advertises a Feb. 21 “Pathway to Math Equity Micro-Course,” which is designed for middle school teachers to make use of a toolkit for “dismantling racism in mathematics.”
Part of the toolkit includes a list of ways “white supremacy culture” allegedly “infiltrates math classrooms.” Those include “the focus is on getting the ‘right’ answer,” students being “required to ‘show their work,'” and other alleged manifestations.
“The concept of mathematics being purely objective is unequivocally false, and teaching it is even much less so,” the document for the “Equitable Math” toolkit reads. “Upholding the idea that there are always right and wrong answers perpetuate objectivity as well as fear of open conflict.” (emphasis added)
ODE Communications Director Marc Siegel defended the “Equitable Math” educational program, saying it “helps educators learn key tools for engagement, develop strategies to improve equitable outcomes for Black, Latinx, and multilingual students, and join communities of practice.”
Instead of focusing on one right answer, the toolkit encourages teachers to “come up with at least two answers that might solve this problem.” (emphasis added)
It also encourages teachers to “center ethnomathematics,” which includes a variety of guidelines. One of them instructs educators to “identify and challenge the ways that math is used to uphold capitalist, imperialist, and racist views.”
So, what does the introduction of “ethomathmatics” into the world of woke education really mean?
Well for one, it means that 2 + 2 doesn’t necessarily equal 4. I don’t know what the alternative answer is, but according to this “woke” math, there must be at least two answers that solve this problem.
And God forbid that a teacher might complicate the issue by adding additional problems like
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- 2 x 2 = ?
- 4 – 2 = ?
- 4 ÷ 2 = ?
Even worse, the teacher might introduce the concept of squares and square roots with problems like
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- 22 = ?
- √4 = ?
And what about problems with more than two numbers like
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- 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = ?
- 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = ?
I mean, if a problem must have at least two correct answers, can it have more than two answers? Can a problem with two numbers have two correct answers and a problem with five numbers have five correct answers? The directive is certainly not clear on that issue.
And how do we use this new “woke” math in actual practice?
If a “woke” student buys a cheeseburger that costs $2.00, fries that cost $2.00, and a coke that costs $1.00 at a McDonalds, how much does the student owe (I’ll make this easy on the student by ignoring the tax)?
Which of the “at least two answers” is the right answer?
What if the student can’t figure it out and just hands the cashier a ten dollar bill – how much change does the student get?
What if the cashier is also a student of the new “woke” math and says the student doesn’t get any change because the “correct” answer is $10.00? Or worse (at least for McDonalds) what if the cashier gives the student $15.00 in change?
What if the student and the cashier get different “correct” answers?
What if the student is black and the cashier is white (or vice versa), and they disagree on the correct answer? Is this a racial issue because they get different answers?
What if the student gets mad over their disagreement and shoots the cashier? What if the cashier shoots the student?
Is this a “hate crime” because it is racially motivated or is this simply a misunderstanding over a “woke” math problem?
Where does the stupidity of “wokeness” end?
In George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984”, the government of Oceania said that the answer to 2 + 2 was 5, and through constant indoctrination, the citizens accepted it as unquestionable truth.
I fear that something similar is occurring in American schools. How long will it be before truth becomes lies and lies become truth?
When do We the People put an end to all of this madness?
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Please note that in the interest of not using improper Personal Gender Pronouns in the above example, nouns (teacher, student and cashier) were used in place of common gender pronouns (he, she).
