Rediscovering the Magic of Mathematics: Embracing a New Mindset for Education

Mathematics, as an abstract of concept as it is, is in reality also physically present all around us. Every system, every object that one can perceive with the eye, hear, or touch is encoded with some type of mathematical description, whether known or unknown to us. The idea of exploring and identifying this embedded mathematical secret information is very valuable in detecting and solving problems in the real world in all areas and just profoundly interesting.

This concept that the traces of mathematics can be found all around us and not merely in dusty old textbooks, is what I believe proves that it is indeed for everyone.

Unfortunately, as technology advancements continue to rule our lives and the current poorly structured educational system remains unresolved, mathematics is one of the subjects, if not the subject, that has experienced a decline in interest over the past decades. Fortunately, there are solutions to this problem, but first one must look deeper at the root of the problem. Whenever I learn of Mathematicians who made breakthroughs in the world of science or in abstract mathematics, they predominantly seem to have lived in the 19^th or 20^th centuries. So, I often find myself reflecting on my generation and the ones to come, thinking “Will there ever be another to match Albert Einstein or Carl Friedrich Gauss?” What can everyone learn from these mathematical giants? They all had one thing in common, a passion and curiosity for mathematics, and that is exactly what we are lacking in today’s classrooms.

If someone brings up Mathematics in a conversation at a party, one can almost guarantee that it would be in the form of a joke. There is this idea that some people can do mathematics and others can’t, but I believe it is actually a case of mind over matter, of being able to but not wanting to. Some way or another, this idea has wormed its way into the fresh young minds of students from an early age, but how? It may be due to the teaching methods at school, and the parenting style and thus it is impossible to find only one answer. I have been tutoring grade 7’s and 8’s math for the past year, and an observation I made is that the unwillingness (or equivalently, laziness) to learn and do mathematics is actually a psychological matter. The students tend to over-hastily think they cannot do a given problem, sometimes even before seeing it. This lack of confidence is actually the crux of the matter, not necessarily the lack of skill. Even in the university during tutorials, working on problems, I still find myself guilty of this. This lack of confidence is almost certainly due to the fear of failure which is obviously not in line with our goal of perfection, because “we strive for perfection”. But perfection is not the essence of mathematics. Yes, we do need the answers to big-world problems, but we tend to forget that every mathematical problem has its own unique journey approaching the answer, which makes it an adventure because of the road leading towards it. And the facts are, we will never come to the answers to all problems, so we might as well enjoy that journey. Who knows? Maybe you discover unexpected landmarks on the way. This curious, adventurous mindset is what cultivates my love for mathematics.

We could go down this path forever, but overall, we can summarize that in order for mathematics to be welcomed by everyone, it is going to start with our mind and it is going to require a big positive mind shift. The problem is not that there is no solution, it is the reluctance to start exploring the vast   and working together to  achieve that goal