How Filipinos can excel in math

(Last of three parts)

For the past two weeks, we have discussed why East Asians (such as the Chinese and Japanese) generally excel in mathematics globally and why Chinoys (Chinese-Filipinos), on average, do better in math locally than other ethnic groups.

Reasons include more learning time, pattern recognition between abstract Chinese and math symbols, Confucian tradition of learning, math achievers as role models, added training outside school.

But our research shows that full-blooded Pinoys (Filipinos) can also excel, given the right environment.

In 2004, family counselor Maribel Sison-Dionisio and I studied more than 500 (mostly non-Chinoy) high-performing Ateneo High School (AHS) students. We discovered that families, especially parents, are responsible for much of their children’s motivation and achievement.

Extensive parental support

In our AHS study, parents are deemed as important as teachers in school success. Parents of successful students consistently supervise homework, provide references, mandate routine and place of study, and are a constant presence in their children’s lives. Not surprisingly, most of these parents have children in gifted classes.

These parents have high aspirations and expectations for their children, and encourage them to do their best in school. They have put in place a good support system (including beliefs and attitudes built around mental toughness, discussed below).

This echoes cross-cultural findings that parental (especially maternal) behavior in Japan and Taiwan is correlated with school performance.

Are these parents tiger parents, as popularized by Amy Chua in her book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother”? Some undoubtedly are, but others strike a good balance between work and play. They demand that their children do well, but they do not compete viciously with other people, and they give enough time for family bonding and play.

Early exposure

Allied with this is children’s early exposure to math and science. Most good problem solvers report having been fascinated with math since childhood. Such curiosity led them to explore more difficult problems on their own.

They like puzzles, especially recreational and logic mind-benders. In fact, most IMO [International Math Olympiad] winners have parents who have been training them since they were young.

For instance, 1988 silver medallist Jerome Khohayting has a physicist father who exposed him to math problems in primary school and who supplemented his school training.

Supportive parents, coupled with school efforts, are so critical that they can overcome adverse conditions, such as war and poverty.

Josefina Fonacier of the University of the Philippines Diliman (she is now retired) organized the first Philippine Math Olympiad (PMO) in 1984.  Fonacier notes the increasing success of students from places far from the National Capital Region.

For instance, in Cotabato City, where conflicts between Muslims and Christians occasionally erupt, a teenager from the Albert Einstein School, with extremely supportive parents, won third prize in the 1998 PMO national finals.

Master teachers

Good teachers start by encouraging students, and end by challenging them.  These teachers have mastered the subject in depth, and are creative and versatile in various teaching techniques, such as open-ended problem-solving, peer teaching, integrated concepts, metacognition, and so on.

Simon Chua, head of the Math Trainers Guild that trains kids for international competitions, says its master teachers strive “to develop in gifted students the ability to create and revise problems, make connections, generalize abstractions by observing structured patterns, analyze data very well. They encourage mental agility, originality of interpretation, and both independence and interdependence.”

Excellent textbooks, though not necessary, can supplement high-level learning. Math concepts are usually abstract, so clear explanations, accompanied by colored illustrations, can help students grasp ideas.

Unfortunately, because of cost, many locally produced math texts cram everything into a few newsprint pages by using small fonts or letters. They also contain many typographical errors. How can students learn from deficient books?

Mental toughness

Composed of confidence, concentration and perseverance, mental toughness is a trait common to successful students. Mentally tough students believe they are capable of solving a problem, can focus on the task at hand, and possess a high frustration threshold.

Mental toughness can be developed in several ways. Exposure to peers who are mentally tough helps students gain confidence and focus.  Encouragement by competent teachers motivates students to approach high-level problems confidently

Parents can model a resilient attitude. Successful students’ parents inculcate in their children the belief that hard work is the key to success. Parents of underachievers, on the other hand, attribute success or lack of it to luck, genetics or even God.

Pinoys are not deemed to be the worst in the world in math and science.  With the help of our Asian neighbors, our parents, schools, civic groups, and government can work together so our youth can regain the math prowess that was ours a century ago.

E-mail the author at [email protected].