Jacob's EDCP 442 Blog

 My immediate thought when reading the introduction to this work is to connect it with a reading from the very first class I took in my undergrad. The reading was entitled "Wisdom Sits in Places" and focused on First Nations communities in the southern United States which centred learning heavily on land-based education and story. In the piece, it was heavily stressed that humans are physical creatures and connect memory to physical places. I think that a similar thing can be said for embodying experiences through dance.  On the subject of lasting memory, I was inspired by the poeticism of Dance 3 and the choice that Sam and Carolina made to use "givens" as physical objects and their own movements for the steps of the proof. Specifically, the idea that the tide will wash away some Elements (pardon the pun) of the proof is interesting to me. In fact, I would extend the metaphor. While the givens will remain for longer than lines in the sand, they too will eventually ...

 I think that it can make a huge difference to all of our students' learning if we acknowledge non-European sources of mathematics. On a surface level, we might expect students from non-European backgrounds to find this history motivating and empowering: this is likely true, although it isn't something I have a great deal of knowledge of. More to my interest, and to a broader use, is the fact that this history will help all students in the learning of mathematics. A great number of students struggle with math because they think that it is a fixed body of knowledge, to be memorized and repeated. When we tell the stories behind the math, it tells students that there is more to it, that math is creative. It also gives examples of how different cultures approached problems differently (geometrically vs. algebraically, for instance) based on what they understand and what results they needed. Also, on a short but hugely important note: it is more accurate. I think it is truly unjust ...