Cognitive Characteristics
Differences between cultures also result in cognitive differences. This creates a challenge in the classroom because cultural background influences the way in which students think about mathematics. Therefore, simply teaching the language will not solve all the problems because there are differences in meaning and this results in differences in thinking (i.e. size for some cultures has the same meaning as value to the Western culture, meaning the way students think about these two terms will differ) (Bishop, 2008). For example, Bishop (2008) found that students from non-Western cultures were more concerned with the specific as opposed to the general because their language contains many specific terms but lack general ones. As a result, these students are unfamiliar with the skills of generalizing or hypothesizing, as done in the Western culture, but instead approach everything from a problem solving point of view (Bishop, 2008). This causes a larger challenge because there are differences in the ways in which non-Western and Western cultures think about and approach a task or problem. Teachers need to acknowledge and embrace diversity throughout the different cultures, and allow students to explore and become familiar with the different pathways that can be taken in order to arrive at a solution or piece of mathematical knowledge.
Furthermore, these differences in thinking create a challenge for educators in deciding which teaching strategies to use. Bishop (2008) has found that differences in thinking cause the teaching strategies used in the Western culture to become meaningless to those from non-Western cultures. For example, analogies, counter-examples, generalizing, hypothetical thinking, and hierarchical processing loose their meaning to other cultures (Bishop, 2008). When in the classroom, teachers need to realize that the Western approach to problem solving is not the only approach out there. The way we approach problems may seem absurd and crazy to those from non-Western cultures (Bishop, 2008). Teachers need to be aware of and open to the cultural components of mathematics education when teaching and allow for these different ways of teaching to enter the classroom in order to increase understanding and student success in mathematics.
Furthermore, these differences in thinking create a challenge for educators in deciding which teaching strategies to use. Bishop (2008) has found that differences in thinking cause the teaching strategies used in the Western culture to become meaningless to those from non-Western cultures. For example, analogies, counter-examples, generalizing, hypothetical thinking, and hierarchical processing loose their meaning to other cultures (Bishop, 2008). When in the classroom, teachers need to realize that the Western approach to problem solving is not the only approach out there. The way we approach problems may seem absurd and crazy to those from non-Western cultures (Bishop, 2008). Teachers need to be aware of and open to the cultural components of mathematics education when teaching and allow for these different ways of teaching to enter the classroom in order to increase understanding and student success in mathematics.