What Makes a Math Person? How Can a Growth Mindset Impact the Classroom?

We may have all seen the sudden cringe of disgust when we share with a recently met acquaintance that we are a Math teacher by trade. Many times this is followed up by the dreaded statement, "I'm just not a math person." For many reasons, mathematics gets lumped under a category of some rare magical gift that just appears in certain individuals, rather than a skill that can be developed, and a real tool that can be applied in various situations when learned.




Decades ago, Dr. Carol Dweck coined the term "Growth Mindset" to describe a contrary point of view to our typical attitude of "you either have it or you don't." This view tells us that the end goal is not to somehow suddenly possess the ability to do a certain thing, but rather that the effort and the process is the goal: that the journey should become the destination. We somehow seem to have lost that way of thinking in American schools. We find ourselves focusing on the end goal as a "passing" grade on a standardized exam, or a SAT Math score high enough to get us into a university where we can "really" start learning something worth learning. We are churning students through our factory style education system without developing their critical thinking skills near to the extent that they could reach when supported by teachers that embrace the idea of allowing students to explore content and embrace their curiosity at all levels of education.

But why math? Why does math as a content seem to widely be held to this idea that some people are just naturally good at it, and some are not? I have wondered about this topic for much of my career, and this weekend, on Saturday, March 4th 2017 I will be holding a round table discussion about how Mathematics relates to a Growth Mindset, and how our education system may be impacting the development of our youth and the first annual Houston STEM Conference at the University of Houston Clear Lake campus. The conference is from 8-4. Check the schedule for more information.

Hope to see you there!


Daniel Becker

For more information:

Houston STEM Conference
Presentation Schedule