In our school, the purpose of math education is twofold. First, it is meant to teach students how to wonder—that is, to instill in students a sense of curiosity for knowledge of the world, and (just as important) to train them to know when their reason has reached its limit. Then, they need to know the art of laying down their powerful tools of rational, mathematical, scientific thinking and simply take in the world God has made for them as it is.
The second purpose of math education is to sharpen our students’ minds in order for them to better serve their neighbor. As a lover of the abstract world of math, it is easy for me to overlook that practical purpose, as I’m sure it is for other mathematicians. But when a student asks when he is ever going to use math, we should as Christians be able to give a clear, practical answer to them, because as long as we live in the world, we have neighbors whom it is our job to serve in concrete ways.
I have found that when a student asks this question, and I give a rather abstract answer (e.g., “Well, it will sharpen your mind.”), he isn’t satisfied. Maybe he should be satisfied with that answer, but I think the desire for something not abstract can be justified by the fact that the student is a person called by God to serve his parents, siblings, friends, and other fellow Christians. So, how can having a mathematically adept mind actually help us all serve others where God has put us?
In my experience, practical mathematical situations do arise, but unpredictably so. That is one of the reasons it is so important that mathematics be abstract in the first place. Will we ever go to the supermarket and buy 100 apples, 50 oranges, and 10 watermelons? Probably not. But we will try to find the best deal when we buy groceries for our families, so as to be good stewards of our money. That’s a skill that requires an understanding of the surprisingly complex arithmetic concept of division (the students in Math 87 just recently learned how to deal with this in class). When a father packs his family’s trunk for a family vacation, or when a mother conceptualizes how to rearrange the furniture to better suit her family’s needs, they won’t be using a compass and a protractor, but they will be using the geometric abilities they have to make the most of their family’s space. When a child cleans his room, or folds his clothes, or bakes with his mom, he won’t be cross-multiplying, but he will be using the sense he has developed for ratios and proportions to serve in those ways.
You probably will not find situations like these in a math book, and I don’t think they should necessarily be found there. We might never solve for another x or multiply another pair of three-digit numbers in our lives, but a mathematically attuned mind is nevertheless useful for service to the neighbor beyond things that are obviously number-related. For that reason, as well as for the growth of wonder, math should be taken in wholeheartedly by all of us Christians.
In Christ,
Mr. Hahn
