What do you think of when you think of maths? If you're like most people, it's probably something like: numbers, equations, boredom, anxiety and pain.
Then there are the weird ones, like me, who call themselves mathematicians. When we think of maths, we think of shapes, colours, patterns, creativity, freedom, insight and the feeling of making deep connections.
Why is there such a huge gap between how mathematicians and the general population see and experience maths?
The myth of the maths gift
So many people give up on engaging with maths from a young age, deciding, "I am just not a maths person, I'm not good at maths."
There is a deeply entrenched view in our society that ability to learn and master mathematical understanding comes from an inborn gift rather than from hard work and perseverance.
When we hold this view from a young age, the maths classroom becomes a place where we are constantly being judged not good enough, a place of repeated failure and shame.
And with each failed test, with each time we're put on the spot to answer a question we're not prepared for, we think, "See, I'm really not a maths person. Get me out of here, I don't belong."
Then grows maths anxiety.
The work of academics like Carol Dweck and Jo Boaler of Stanford University suggests that the strongest predictor of achievement in maths is mindset—specifically, whether you believe you can grow your maths ability or whether it is fixed.
Come again? You're saying I just have to believe I'm good at maths and then I can be?
Not quite.
