Why we Learn Math in School?

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Math educators may have many opinions about the purpose of learning math in school. But if you ask common citizens, their answer is likely to be related to numbers &amp; calculations only. There are several reasons for this state of affairs.

First is that the school curriculum, classroom teaching and the various examinations mostly focus on memorization of facts and on testing how well we have mastered the various computations with numbers. This in turn is related to the continuing Indian tradition, right from the Vedic times, which has always looked at math as an applied science, used mainly for constructing ritual altars (Geometry) &amp; for understanding the movement of celestial bodies (Astronomy). Ganita was part of Jyotisha.

Second is that for most of us, the only math that we use in our daily lives, after school, is understanding different types of numbers and performing calculations with it.

Math developed in all cultures with ideas about numbers and calculations. But in the last few centuries, math has developed into so many new areas that today, no one individual can say that s/he understands all areas of math. Along with this developed an idea that math is very suitable for training in logical thinking. In fact, that is one of the reasons why math finds a place at all levels of schooling all over the world. But this thinking has never percolated into schools.

Today there is also increasing pressure from the economy for training more humans in critical &amp; logical thinking. Increasing computerization &amp; digitalization are transforming economies into knowledge economies, where there is a premium on persons who are able to deal effectively with knowledge, data and ideas.

In the last five decades, computerisation has also developed software for doing computations of not only arithmetic but in algebra &amp; calculus also. Today almost no businessman or scientist ever performs calculations with paper &amp; pencil. Today even phones &amp; watches can perform computations. Hence there is no need for manual calculation skills. There are professional mathematicians who are not good at calculations!

In his book, &ldquo;Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery &amp; Invention&rdquo;, psychologist Mihali Csikzentmihalyi (pronounced Chick-sent-me-hi) says that humans are genetically inclined to get satisfaction &amp; pleasure from discovery &amp; creativity, since our very survival depends on these. He also says that if the environment is not conducive, these inclinations would not develop to their full potential. Hence it is actually an evolutionary mandate to us that we teach thinking skills effectively to children. The best place to do that is in our schools.

There is no subject better suited for developing these skills, right through the K-12 stages of school education, than math.

What is it that makes math eminently suited for this purpose?

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