Culture: Linking Mathematics Pedagogy and the Psychology of Flow

The Chapter Five explores culture – linking mathematics pedagogy and the psychology of flow. Mathematics that is interesting and motivating can lead students to a flow like state. The flow experience is multifaceted. It is a cognitively demanding process that must also take into account motivational and emotional components. With flow theory, students can experience the satisfaction of learning something new. Teachers play a crucial role in helping students learn and value mathematics. Mathematics is more than a set of predetermined procedures resulting in right or wrong answers. To illustrate the relationship between flow, culture, and mathematics pedagogy, this chapter presents the applications of flow in mathematics education, discuss the importance of including cultural representations in the mathematics classroom and propose the quilting – an activity rooted in culture, is a great example of a flow inducing approach to learning mathematics.