Time for Change: Action, Not Words 28 October 2022

October in the United Kingdom is Black History Month. The theme for this year’s celebration is

“Time for Change: Action, Not Words”

In view of that, The Mathematical Association with other organisations has been sponsoring the conference Black Heroes of Mathematics (4^th-5^th October 2022), for which I am the Chair. The most recent conferences have been looking at a more mathematical education perspective. The International Centre for Mathematical Science produce a poster which teacher can download for free.

Black Heroes of Maths Free Download Poster! | ICMS - International Centre for Mathematical Sciences

The theme – Time for Change: Action, Not Words is a challenge to all of us within the mathematics education community. Two talks in this conference were particularly relevant to mathematic teachers

How inclusive is the maths curriculum? Dr Tolulope Fadina (University of Essex)

In this talk Dr Fadina discusses decolonizing the curriculum in mathematics which is still at the early stage. To begin with, what is decolonizing the curriculum? There are different definitions and approaches to the concept. Decolonizing the curriculum for Dr Fadina means dissolving the western-centric part of our curriculum to create inclusiveness such that every individual can identify with the curriculum and be involved in the approach of teaching delivery and assessment. A natural question in this direction is, how can one begin the process of decolonizing the curriculum? The process of achieving this is an open-ended question and challenge is why is it needed and what are the benefits?

Dr Fadina talk can be found here

Black Heroes of Mathematics Conference 2022 - Media Hopper Create

The Need for Black Role Models and Representation in Mathematics Professor Aris Winger, Georgia Gwinnett College

Professor Winger discusses what happens to the future for when the lack of representation persists? What does the future look like when the greatest of disciplines goes without the diversity that is key to success at the highest level? Professor Winger explore need for representation and how we can move the needle to make it happen.

Professor Winger provided one of the stand out slides, which showed the reason why we need action, not words.