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Loving and loathing:Portrayals of Mathematics in Young Adult Fiction Novels
Lisa DarraghUniversidad de Chile (CIAE y CMM)[email protected]
Overview• Background
• Research on societal views/images of mathematics and mathematics learning
• My research on portrayals of mathematics learning in YA fiction
BackgroundImages and views of mathematics in society
Identity as learner of mathematics
Future participation in mathematics
How does society view mathematics?
"Oh Gosh! Maths?"
"No! I am not good at maths, please don't ask me anything about maths." (Sam & Ernest, 2000, p193)
How does society view mathematics?
• High status
• Difficult, challenging• Scary• Unpopular
• Nerdy• Boring• Distinct from other learning areas
• In Chile?
Public surveys
• Forgasz, H., Leder, G., & Tan, H. (2014). Public views on the gendering of mathematics and related careers: International comparisons. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 87, 367–388.
• Leder, G., & Forgasz, H. (2010). I liked it till Pythagoras: The public views of mathematics. In 33rd Annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (pp. 328–335). Fremantle, Australia: MERGA.
Public surveys
• The majority liked mathematics at school and considered
themselves good at the subject
• Mathematics is important to study and in helping gain a job
• Forgasz, H., Leder, G., & Tan, H. (2014). Public views on the gendering of mathematics and related careers: International comparisons. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 87, 367–388.
• Leder, G., & Forgasz, H. (2010). I liked it till Pythagoras: The public views of mathematics. In 33rd Annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (pp. 328–335). Fremantle, Australia: MERGA.
Survey of ‘images’ of mathematics
• Defined ‘image’ as
- Mental picture (cognitive idea)
- Affective component (attitudes, emotions, beliefs)
• Sample of 548 British adults
• Mathematics as boring, difficult, challenging
Sam, Lim Chap, and Paul Ernest. (2000) "A survey of public images of mathematics."Research in Mathematics Education 2.1: 193-206.
Draw a mathematician
Picker, S. H., & Berry, J. S. (2000). Investigating pupils’ images of mathematicians. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 43(1), 65–94.
Draw a mathematician
• Students relied on stereotypes from the media
• Themes included…- Disparagement of mathematicians- Mathematicians as foolish- Mathematicians as ‘overwrought’ - Mathematicians as powerful
Picker, S. H., & Berry, J. S. (2000). Investigating pupils’ images of mathematicians. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 43(1), 65–94.
Draw a mathematician
Picker, S. H., & Berry, J. S. (2000). Investigating pupils’ images of mathematicians. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 43(1), 65–94
Mathematics in advertising
Evans, J., Tsatsaroni, A., & Czarnecka, B. (2013). Mathematical images in advertising: Constructing difference and shaping identity, in global consumer culture. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 85, 3–27. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-013-9496-0
Mathematics in advertising
Evans, J., Tsatsaroni, A., & Czarnecka, B. (2013). Mathematical images in advertising: Constructing difference and shaping identity, in global consumer culture. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 85, 3–27. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-013-9496-0
• Mathematics is used for marketing
• Advertisements both reflect and elaborate meanings of mathematics in society
Mathematics in popular culture
Books, TV shows, movies
Moreau, M.-P., Mendick, H., & Epstein, D. (2010). Constructions of mathematicians in popular culture and learners’ narratives: a study of mathematical and non-mathematical subjectivities. Cambridge Journal of Education, 40(1), 25–38. http://doi.org/10.1080/03057640903567013
Epstein, D., Mendick, H., & Moreau, M.-P. (2010). Imagining the mathematician: Young people taling about popular representations of maths. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 31(1), 45–60.
Mathematics in popular cultureHardLogicalCertainUltra-rational(Invisible)
Mathematicians as eccentric, insane, highly emotional
Mathematics in popular culture• During interviews students responded to images of
mathematicians as geeky, nerdy or odd
• Aware these were stereotypes
• But no alternative available
Moreau, M.-P., Mendick, H., & Epstein, D. (2010). Constructions of mathematicians in popular culture and learners’ narratives: a study of mathematical and non-mathematical subjectivities. Cambridge Journal of Education, 40(1), 25–38. http://doi.org/10.1080/03057640903567013
Epstein, D., Mendick, H., & Moreau, M.-P. (2010). Imagining the mathematician: Young people taling about popular representations of maths. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 31(1), 45–60.
Mathematics in television
We all use math every day…
Yet this TV show portrays it astoo difficult for you, the viewer
Esmonde, I. (2013). What counts as mathematics when “We all use math every day”? A look at NUMB3RS. In B. Bevan, P. Bell, R. Stevens, & A. Razfar (Eds.), LOST Opportunities: Learning in out-of-school-time. e-book: Springer. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4304-5_4
Mathematics and gender• Many of these studies looked also at gender
• Mathematicians in the media are male
• Attitudes to mathematics in society are not significantly different according to gender
Mathematics in YA fiction novels
YA fiction novels
• YA fiction is a growing genre with a wide audience (including Spanish speaking world)
• It has been researched to look at representation of various social groups
• My reading of these books led me to suspect an unfair portrayal of (school) mathematics
Methods• Problem: How to find/choose a sample of young adult
fiction?
Methods• Sample of young adult (YA) fiction from YALSA
• Read all 120 books
• Extracted every mention of mathematics learning
• Categorised the books as negative, neutral, or positive portrayals of mathematics learning
• Discursively analysed texts for themes
Portrayal of mathematics learning # of Books
Positive 6
Neutral 15
Negative 32
Total number of books which mention mathematics
learning
53
Mathematics is silenced (No mention of it while
other subjects are mentioned)
8
Total included in analysis 61
Excluded (No mention of mathematics learning, nor
any other subject area)
59
Total books read in the sample 120
ExamplesThe protagonist’s father says: "I remember in college I was taking this math class, this really great math class taught by this tiny old woman…"
(The Fault in Our Stars, p223).
"‘I don't suppose he was inquiring about yesterday's math homework?’ 'Not quite,' I say…"
(I Am Number Four, e-book, chpt 12).
Examples
“Finally, finally, the last bell rang, freeing me from the
endless torture of X equals Y problems"
(The Iron King, chapter 1)
[Father phones in class] "‘What's with you?’ ‘I'm in math
class.’ After a silence my dad said, ‘I thought you hated
math.’ ‘So?’ I said…”
(After, p2)
Examples
"For a second, I imagine myself as a 102-year-old freshman.
This is entirely possible. It could very well take me eighty-
eight years to understand algebra."
(The True Meaning of Cleavage p12)
In the middle of the night, screams of horror would echo
down the halls as some [student] had been startled from the
fitful realm of sleep only to remember the answer to an
obscure question of ancient history or math. Math was the
universal nightmare among the majority of [students]."
(Captain Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Youth, part 3)
Other subjects?Subject Negative
Portrayal
History, social studies 1
Art -
Music 1
Drama -
Religion -
Latin -
Literature/reading/English -
Science 4
Gym, P.E 4
Mathematics 32
Positive Portrayal
10
3
4
1
1
1
3
2
-
6
Mathematics content?• Almost never including mathematics content
• Most often the mention of mathematics was the name of the class (algebra, geometry, calculus…)
• Mentions of liking/disliking or ability in mathematics
• Mathematics as a metaphor
"Calc was incomprehensible. I could understand irrational girls and irrational parents. But irrational numbers? Numbers usually made sense, even the imaginary ones. I kept reading the page in my math book over and over again. The only thing that felt irrational was my brain."
(Twisted, pp62-3)
Discursive analysis• Depiction of math teachers
• Characters relationships with mathematics
• Mathematics as a setting (e.g. mathematics classroom)
Depiction of mathematics teachersStereotyped…
"My math teacher (who was planning to bring a small army of anal retentive calculator-carrying, math-teacher children to the concert)….” (Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, p240)
Depiction of mathematics teachersObject of ridicule….
“Mr Palmer slapped the board, raising a small cloud of chalk dust. Then he spun toward the window. 'Mister Marcus, ' he spat. 'Can you tell me why that is?'" … "I barely listened as Mr. Palmer raged at John spit flying out of the corners of his mouth. I wasn't the only one unimpressed by Mr. Palmer's tantrum (his third of the day)."
(If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where’s My Prince? pp 2-3)
Depiction of mathematics teachersNasty….
“… it meant even the worst teachers couldn't ever be fired, no matter how mean or incompetent they were. Even Mrs. Sidel, the geometry teacher, who used to water her plants in class and sprinkle the slow kids' heads and say she was watering the vegetables - even she had a contract guaranteeing her job..."
(After, p.69)
Depiction of mathematics teachers• “Clive moony is my geometry teacher and the oldest
living person. He probably taught math back when the abacus was the latest technology. He's so ancient that he's senile. He can never remember any mathematical formulas. But he's managed to retain a database of songs in his head, songs that have our first names in them, songs that he delights in singing to mortified students.”
(The Earth, my butt and other big round things, p40)
Depiction of mathematics teachers• Exclusively negative
- Stereotyped- Ridiculous- Nasty
• What are the implications for teachers of mathematics?
Relationships with mathematics
Protagonist Secondary Character
Male Good at math
0 Male Good at math
7
Bad at math
9 Bad at math
1
Female Good at math
9 Female Good at math
2
Bad at math
7 Bad at math
1(+2 adults)
Mathematics as ‘other’"I was practically a straight-A student; I aced everything but math" (Butter, p15)
Repeating math this year (Wintergirls)
"I wound up with As and Bs in English, science, social studies, and Spanish, and a big, fat D in math." – (Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, p164)
"Finals were done, and most of them had been a cakewalk [easy]. Calculus, the one exception, was behind me, pass or fail.“ (Eclipse, p323)
‘Scripts’ for mathematics identity
• There are ‘scripts’ available in these novels for girls to perform ‘good at mathematics’ identities.
• There are very few minority groups represented in these novels. The characters are usually white, middle class, heterosexual, thin, attractive
• Stereotyping more evident in the side characters
• Mathematics is distinct from the other courses
Mathematics as a setting• Avoiding mathematics classes
• Describing confusion or difficulty using a metaphor of mathematics
• Mathematics is terrible (Hell, torture, nightmare)
• Mathematic class is tense (parental, friend, romantic tension)
Portrayals of mathematics learning and the classroom…examplesMathematics as something to be avoided:“ ‘Okay,' Madison said to me from the doorway, 'you can cut math, but you can't cut lunch’”
(If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where’s My Prince?, p220)
Mathematics as metaphor (e.g. ‘confusing’):"Adam eyed me with furrowed brows, like I was a math problem on the blackboard that he was trying to figure out."
(If I Stay, p101)
Portrayals of mathematics learning and the classroom
Mathematics as terrible:
"By the time we get to math class, fourth period, the day has turned into an exquisite form of torture” … As the teacher reduces us to theorems, I must remain silent."
(Every Day, p56)
Tension – friends, parents, romance
"I have the same math class as Erica Trager and her [followers]. Which makes me feel like I have been banished to the very lowest circles of hell."
(The True Meaning of Cleavage, p125)
"You know, it totally sucks having a stepfather who is also a high-school teacher, because who is better equipped to rain on a teenager's parade than a high-school teacher“
(Princess in Pink, p.73)
Mathematics and love“I was staring at Renee in fifth-period math and praying nobody would make her change her outfit..."
(Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, p53)
"We entered calculus and I swear, every person in the room froze and watched as Noah paused by my desk"
(Pushing the limits, p201)
Love as a plot developmentLove was an important aspect of the plot in many of the novels
‘Love’ plot line develops within a classroom
16
Art class 1
English class 1
French class 1
Science class 3
Mathematics class 10
Mathematics and love"I have to admit it: he's the reason I'm psyched to get four [valentines] in calc. Mr Daimler's only twenty-five and he's gorgeous.“
"Nobody else could make calculus even remotely interesting. I'm sure of it.“
"I swear when our eyes do meet, it makes my whole body feel like a giant shiver and I swear he's feeling it too"
(Before I Fall, chapter 3)
Mathematics and love"Why do you flirt with Mr Daimler? He's a perv, you know"
"Maybe I'm only one math class away from being a slut like Anna Cortullo“
"Freshman year Amy spread the rumor that Ally let Fred Donnin and two other boys touch her boobs behind the gym in exchange for a month’s worth of math homework"
Mathematics and love"Then I think, he's going to kiss me right here, in the math wing of Thomas Jefferson High School, and I almost pass out.“
(Before I Fall, chapter 4)
Summary of discursive analysis• Mathematics is used
▫ to develop characters▫ as a setting▫ metaphorically for affect▫ to generate (or reflect?) a feeling of tension e.g.
romantic tension
• These portrayals of mathematics have an affect on the construction of mathematics in the mind of the reader and in society
Conclusions• Mathematics learning is portrayed negatively in YA fiction
• Mathematics is used (metaphorically) as a literary device
• Mathematics teachers are subjected to negative positioning
• Gender balance in mathematics ability but other groups unrepresented
• Mathematics class is portrayed as something to be avoided, terrible, confusing, difficult and tense
Implications• Provides a measure for view of mathematics in society
(can be repeated in the future)
• Possibly negative consequences for mathematics teachers – job more difficult due to negative positioning
• Mathematics may be a device to help with love!
• YA fiction reflect and elaborate a notion of mathematics classrooms as tense.
Future research directions• Research into the reaction of teenagers to these novels.
• A challenge – write YA fiction with positive portrayals and positions for mathematics learning
