During third period, on the third day of the week, on the third week of the month, you will find the math team pondering perplexing problems together. Led my Mrs. Jennifer Conner, the team of Mr. Hatting, Mr. Cameron, Mrs. Witt, and Mrs. De Bruin are challenged to engage in Socratic dialogue over puzzles and patterns related to Greek arithmetic while they complete the ClassicalU course “Contemplative Mathematics” by Mr. Bill Carey. As this team sits at the feet of mathematical giants such as Euclid, they are engaged in the same learning activities that they desire scholars to experience.
Our math team asks questions, makes observations that may or may not be relevant, and offers conjectures for possible solutions. Humility, charity, and perseverance are required as many of the problems require navigating failed attempts and searches for counter examples that negate a possible solution. Truth is knowable; it just may take some time to discover it. The process of discovering it together is joyful.
In this manner, our TRCA upper level math teachers are being equipped to bring these socratic dialogues into their classrooms. The purpose of these discussions is not simply to discover a solution that is useful. In Book V of The Republic, Plato argues against the mere usefulness of mathematics and asserts that its study “leads minds toward pure reason and cultivates the true love of wisdom. By training one’s thoughts on the perfections of mathematics, the mind learns to transcend the level of changing opinions to identify objective truth.” (The Liberal Arts Tradition, pg 53).
So if you love to seek truth and cultivate a love of wisdom, come join the math team. You’ll know when and where to find them joyfully working together in the pursuit of truth.
by Mrs. Karen De Bruin
