February 2017

In keeping with that tradition, I thought I would use this year’s message to tell you about a mathematician whom I have been following through Twitter, math journals and YouTube videos. Francis Su is a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and, for the past few years, was the president of the Mathematical Association of America. His story is unique and his passion for mathematics is infectious and inspiring. Su’s approach to the teaching and learning of math is almost evangelical. His lectures and talks consistently describe mathematics as a story that is filled with elegance and beauty, and the pursuit of truth and certainty.

 

In a recent article, Su shares his thoughts about human flourishing. He describes five basic human desires that he attributes to flourishing: play, beauty, truth, justice and love. He goes onto explain how he believes mathematics develops habits of mind that allow people to flourish. Learning mathematics, Su claims, is not about learning facts or about sending everyone to Ph.D. programs. Instead, mathematics is about cultivating much larger virtues: perseverance when wrestling with a difficult problem; hopefulness in the pursuit of finding a solution; joy in the pursuit of certainty and truth; and appreciation for the beauty that exists in the multitude of ways of solving a problem.

 

I am most struck by Su’s emphasis on mathematics being a means to develop perseverance and hope, virtues that we can all agree are necessary in life. Too often, students are quick to conclude that “math is hard” or that they simply “aren’t good at math” and lose hope in being able to attempt additional problems. This past fall, we invited 5th and 6th grade students to participate in the American Mathematics Competition 8. This prestigious national competition is written for middle school students and can be taken by students of any age. More than 30 of our students voluntarily participated in this competition and earned extremely respectable scores considering the level of difficulty of the problems. In introducing this experience to our students, we aspired to develop precisely the habits of mind that allow us to flourish and that, according to Su, are strengthened through the practice of mathematics. Students showed extreme perseverance when confronted with very difficult problems. They demonstrated hope that they would be able to find a solution to the problems. And they experienced a sense of play and joy as they pursued the solution to a problem.

 

As adults in these children’s lives, we often may feel tempted to find quick ways to help students with math, either by teaching them “our way” of solving a problem or by rushing to enlist a tutor. Perhaps, if we reframe the learning of math as being less about achievement and more about developing habits of mind, we will be less inclined to rush to our students' aid. Instead we can allow them to persevere and to find wonder in the pursuit of a solution and joy in the process—qualities that transcend academics and support our mission by engaging students in their own learning and helping them become resilient problem solvers.

 

I wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day.

 

Warmly,

Meera Ratnesar
Head of School

P.S. For those of you who would like to play with the AMC 8 Competition, click here, to download this year’s test problems. If you would like to learn more about Francis Su, please enjoy two of my favorite lectures of his: Mathematics and Meaning; and My Favorite Math Fun Facts.