What does a wall do? It interrupts movement. What does a door do? It regulates passage: it may open, remain locked or allow some people through while keeping others outside.
In their research on adults’ mathematics life histories1, Coben and Thumpston identified two recurring images: the brick wall and the door. In the study, they are separate metaphors. From a dyscalculic perspective, however, it is useful to place them side by side and also examine the relationship between them.
In Coben and Thumpston’s study the brick wall represented “a loss of mathematical coherence”: a point, often during education, when mathematics ceased to make sense. The door represented access in later life: mathematics could open or restrict entry to education and employment. Their participants had widely varying relationships with mathematics and also different levels of numeracy. The findings of this study cannot therefore be treated as a specific account of dyscalculic experience.
What happens when we examine these metaphors from the perspective of dyscalculic adults?
In the accounts I have heard from dyscalculic people, the brick wall appears much more frequently than the door. The experience of a brick wall is also rarely confined only to mathematics lessons. It is something that can be present throughout working life, career choices and everyday life. A qualification, test, calculation or numerical task can determine whether a person is able to enter education, perform a job, manage their finances or complete an everyday task. The brick wall describes a concrete interruption in action: a point at which a person cannot continue, or has to find a completely different route.
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Sending love and gentleness to everyone who has encountered walls, closed doors, or both.
/ Sasu
Curious about the earlier piece in this series? You can find it here:
How numbers shape a life
A shared language can help us recognise that experiences that previously seemed isolated, deeply personal and individual, are not ours alone.
Coben, D. (2002). Mathematics or Common Sense? Researching ‘Invisible’ Mathematics through Adults’ Mathematics Life Histories. Teoksessa D. Coben, J. O’Donoghue, & G. E. Fitzsimons (Toim.), Perspectives on Adults Learning Mathematics (Vol. 21, s. 53–66). Kluwer Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47221-X_3