Reading Response: Battleground Schools

    The section on math phobia and negative stereotypes stopped me the most. It's definitely true, and I've personally experienced it being said to me. Many people are not fond of anything math-related and would, probably thinking that it's not offensive and more as a joke, to give the "ew"-reaction. Some people will give respect to those who are proficient in math, recognizing how others can do something you aren't as good at. And of course, some adults are not hesitant to say that they can't do math, because everyone else is also open about it. However, if you replace these conversations with the subject of literacy, would it still be heard as a joke? Or would saying that you are illiterate be different, and why? These are some questions that made me want to ask as I read.

    Another point was how mathematicians, and people who are simply good at math, are generally stereotyped to be male. I've heard about this before, but never believed it until I gradually saw the proportion of male students in math courses rise once I got to upper-level courses. In elementary and secondary, many of the "smart" kids were female students, and I would find more male students struggling with math throughout my high school years. This was an interesting finding for me, but I never took the time to look through any research or articles, so maybe it will be a good chance to search now. 

    The third point that made me think deeply was about the reality of unqualified or math-phobic teachers working in the secondary level. I remember that, in our Math Assessment course, we were told that there are many cases where districts don't have enough qualified math teachers and had to ask other subject teachers to teach math. This lead to teachers not knowing how to assess their students well in math, and some had to just "do their job" which lead to the disconnection of students to mathematics. Even with the demand of the number of math classes just as much as English and Socials courses (i.e., having Math 8-12, AP), there's a lack in math teachers, which is also very evident in the number of TCs in each subject cohort.