How can art or culture help to make mathematics, which most learners regard as “difficult” and “abstract”, more user-friendly? Better still, how can Ndebele paintings be used to demystify the subject and make learning a pleasant experience?
Maths teachers found the answers at a recent workshop hosted by the Africa Meets Africa Project (AMA) at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Newtown, Johannesburg.
The aim was to explore and explain the concept of Pythagoras’s theorem, with which many learners seem to struggle. The workshop is part of AMA’s initiative to use indigenous art skills to promote and teach maths and make it less scary for learners.
AMA lesson materials developer Jackie Scheiber facilitated the workshop using a freshly painted Ndebele mural as a lively backdrop.
Scheiber said that, over the years, she had noticed that most learners struggled with geometry. The workshop helped equip maths teachers with new creative and practical tools. The painting was produced by renowned Ndebele artists Esther Mahlangu and Francinah Ndemande. They were joined by Esther Mnguni, Betty Mtau and Emma Mahlangu.
“The Ndebele painting is a perfect visual representation of geometry and symmetry,” said Scheiber.
“For instance, it entails all angles, such as acute, obtuse, right and straight angles. I use the painting as a basis for the workshop.”
She said the use of ordinary cultural symbols and artefacts reinforces the perception that maths is part of our everyday lives and that teachers can use their own surroundings to teach the subject.
The notion of using art to teach maths echoes the key objective of the new curriculum statement which encourages teachers to explore diverse learning tools to enhance classroom practice, particularly the teaching of maths.
AMA director Helene Smuts said the project has been exploring Southern African cultural achievement for several years. She said the focus of the initiative is to seek solutions to solve learning challenges by exposing the knowledge embedded in cultural artefacts such as beadwork and paintings.
“In the process we have developed a unique learning methodology, which takes fear out of learning,” she said. “Familiarity brings confidence and kills that fear.”
She said indigenous cultural artefacts and expressions present a visual language that offers an entry point to understanding maths.
Neither Mahlangu nor Ndemande went to school; nor did they study maths. When asked how she generates straight lines and complex patterns by hand, Ndemande said she relies on her eyes.
“Very few people notice the sophisticated maths embedded in their designs,” Smuts said.
Before its focus on Ndebele painting, AMA was involved in a similar project focusing on Zulu beadwork and weaving, titled “Making a living through the mathematics of Zulu design”, to integrate the teaching of maths with art and culture (See the project website at www.africameetsafrica.co.za).
The project also develops history, visual arts and maths resource materials by working closely with experts such as Scheiber, mathematician Dr Chonat Getz and historian Dr Sekibakiba Lekgoathi of the Wits department of history.
The mural will be on permanent display to explain mathematical concepts to learners and teachers who visit the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre.
The wall painting was sponsored by Plascon Paints, Business and Arts South Africa and Natalie Knight — The Art Source, AMA and Sci-Bono.
For more information visit AMA’s website www.africameetsafrica.co.za or fax 011 622 7871