Unteaching & Unlearning: Decolonizing Math History and Education

From stemteachersnyc.org:

Leader: Martina Meijer

Nothing is neutral, especially in education. Let’s take a critical lens to our curriculum content, especially the history of the math that we teach. This is a moment for teachers to develop a more complex understanding of the background of the math that we teach our students, one that does not center European mathematicians or European culture. In most US schools the non-European roots of mathematics and scientific ideas are not taught. The discoveries made by scholars, scribes, and mathematicians from China, India, the Mayan Empire, Egypt, Benin, and many others are falsely attributed to the Greeks and Romans. Educators have a responsibility to research and improve their craft, and to commit to unlearning and unteaching the stories and historical perspective that was taught. Join us for a conversation on developing a more complex understanding of the background of the math that we teach our students.