Publications:
A Framework
for Adult Numeracy Standards:
The Mathematical Skills and Abilities Adults Need
To Be Equipped for the Future
COMPETENCE AND SELF-CONFIDENCE
You have to go back many decades ago when I was in grade school. That's where I first
think about math -- same thing, the times table. You were under the gun to be able
to verbalize. I can recall hitting the wall at 6 times something or other and that
was the end of it. I couldn't go farther. Fear was a motivation. In those days,
if you didn't produce, you flunked. So I learned methods of getting to the same
answers but not the standard subject methods. I never could figure out how, say
a, b, or c, had values to it in algebra, and that was sheer agony. I got into geometry. I was
in a private school, in a very small class. I knew where I was in the class, maybe
that was (my) self-image, but the problem was some of the fear of math, so the first
time I flunked it. Then I changed schools and never told anybody I'd taken geometry
before and I got an A the second time through it 'cause I had to take it to get
the math credit. And I like geometry but that's about where we stop. . . I was supposed
to take physics and did not and I avoided math. I've learned my own methods from dealing
with where I needed to do math.
Overview
In focus group after focus group, adult learners and stakeholders openly shared their
positive and negative experiences with math. They shared their best experiences
with math, and from whom they learned math. The also shared their worst math experiences. When given a choice -- a good experience or a bad experience -- the results were
striking. Many more learners, and a good number of stakeholders, described their
lack of confidence and competence in math. From the discussions, it became clear
that many adults fear math and especially lack confidence in their ability to handle the math
taught in classroom situations.
Key Findings
The loss of self-confidence in math, the lack of understanding of particular math
concepts, and fear of math inhibits power. Adult learners and stakeholders alike
often remembered experiences that discouraged them from enjoying math and appreciating
its potential. In focus group after focus group, adult learners reflected on particular
experiences when they had difficulty learning math: "In second grade I had trouble
with multiplication. The teacher just forced it down my throat and expected me to
memorize it and I just couldn't do it." "Math was okay until seventh grade when we started
fractions. I had no idea what was going on and the teacher would not explain it."
"In seventh grade I started to have trouble with geometry. I still have trouble
with the GED geometry. I don't know why we have to learn it. It's so confusing."
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Many adults do not feel confident, competent, or comfortable in math. "I don't like
math. We don't get along. I just don't like it. Adding and subtracting was okay,
but when you get to dividing, fractions, and algebra, it just gets hard." "All math
is frustrating." "I've always been really dumb in math."
Many adult learners are frustrated because they do not feel competent in math. Comments
like "Doing homework with the kids is most frustrating for me because my kids do
math better than me," or "Working with my daughter at home is really frustrating.
I won't let her use a calculator because I don't want her to get dumb like me," or "I
want my kids to be able to do math like I couldn't" reveal that sometimes this frustration
shows up when dealing with their children's math homework.
Adult learners and stakeholders alike, in some cases, fear math. As stated by one
stakeholder, I was taught to fear math. Or as stated by learners, I like math
but I m scared because I can t divide. Math makes me terrified and tense.
For some learners, frustration with math spread to frustration in other areas of school
as well. For example, one learner related, "I am not good in math. When I was
in school and we started on decimals and fractions, I could not catch on and my teacher wouldn't help so I got behind in class and could not keep up with everyone else
so I just gave up completely on all of school so that no one knew that I couldn't
do it and (I) quit school. I don't even like it anymore."
Is this lack of confidence in math because people are limited or lack the ability
to learn? Certainly not. The causes are more likely found in poor learning environments
and lack of recognition of different learning styles and needs. As one learner
stated, "I didn't understand math because the teachers wasn't explaining it right from
the base. They was getting to, they were starting the middle part of it and I didn't
understand the first part of it and I never could understand math." Or as another
learner noted, Mine was high school, too. It was close to what he was saying with
the problem with a teacher ... It would be at the point where maybe I wouldn t grasp
something and you try to ask questions, and it seemed that, if you were in the minority
that had trouble, it was always see me after class. It seemed you were being pushed
to the side a little bit. Maybe I didn t get enough where you drill with it and
it gets repetitive, but it was like the majority got it, so that was good enough,
so we went on to the next thing. So that was when I just fell behind.
Good learning environments -- within the family, at work, or in school -- produce
different attitudes toward math and can help to overcome fear and lack of belief
in one s ability. Confidence builds competence in math and competence builds confidence.
The learner quoted above who could never understand math when talking about his current
ABE experience stated, "Now I understand it perfectly. I used to hate math; now
I love it." Or as another learner related, "Here, when I ask them ... I feel
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that
builds up your confidence level and self-esteem ... they always try to help. It makes
me work harder than ever. " Or as another learner states, "I hated math but the football
coach made it interesting to me. So I had to learn to deal with it. The coach made learning math fun." Or within the family: "It (math) was my best subject. My grandfather
helped me a great deal when I needed help. He was very helpful to me because he
was a carpenter. " And "my mother was the one who would help me the most with math. I would work at it by myself until I would get frustrated ... so I would ask her
to help me and she would sit down and explain things to me. "
Sometimes confidence in math comes after gaining self-esteem as an adult. One stakeholder
explained, "Now that I am older, I feel much more confident in the math I need to
do. I wouldn t voluntarily go back and take a higher math course, (but) math doesn t frighten me. I have more confidence in myself ... This was nothing I was taught.
It is something I picked up." Math skills are also acquired on the job. For example,
when learners were asked to describe a good math learning situation, they responded, "The people that helped me was my boss at work;" "The best learning was when I am
at work using my tape measure;" and "I worked in a Chevrolet parts department and
learned more math on my job than in school."
Those learners that feel comfortable with math have confidence in their ability and
respect for the domain of math. "I bought a house last year. The price of the house
sounds pretty inexpensive, but when you add up the interest on it, the points they
charge you, the closing fees, the maintenance. |
