One 4 you,

two 4 me…fair?

Picture the scene, a group of 24+ black South Africans giving up their Saturday morning for ‘Maths Class’.

Held in a Church building in the town of Johannesburg, the children’s ages ranged from 7 - 16 years. The classes were entirely voluntary and free. As this was the last class before the holidays, the children were given a worksheet. This covered basic addition, subtraction, division, multiplication and number lines and patterns. Here, they were learning the necessary mathematical skills needed for life. As this was the last class before the holidays, the children were given a small packet of sweets at the end of the class. However more children had come than there were bags of sweets… As the children had been working well in pairs, it seemed that sharing the sweets would be the logical solution to the shortage... one for you, one for me. This they meticulously did until the end of the sweets was in sight. Then they were faced with the dilemma of an odd number of sweets... what would be the fair thing to do... I listened in and their conversation went something like this “You can have the extra one….no why don’t you have it…” (this toing and froing went on for several seconds.) Finally one girl said… I know why don’t we let Miss have it…. yes, said the other pupil … but it’s not fair to only give her one… why don’t I give her 2 of mine and you could give her 2 of yours, then I’ve got five and you’ve got five and Miss has got five too.

Moral concepts arise out of simple arithmetic - dividing fifteen sweets ‘fairly’ between two children.

Other issues can be investigated using mathematical skills - for example, a data handling exercise might record pupils’ responses to a series of questions about moral dilemmas. Many mathematicians have seen a spiritual significance in their work (Newton and Kepler for example). Numbers play a significant part in many religions. The assembly resource book, produced by The Stapleford Centre ‘Assemblies that count’ has many fine examples.

You can look at giving / tithing to charity, etc… not what you can get but what you can give… and the giving principle doesn’t necessarily have to centre around money. The principles of tithing… pocket money tithed to help others… changing the way we think… again what can I have/buy with my money… or what can I give to or support with my money, time, talents.

Children can be allowed to discover mathematical rules for themselves, with careful planning and the right starting points. Often Maths lessons which are silent and involve individuals working from textbooks lose the excitement of the subject. If children work in groups or have opportunities to share their discoveries, not only are the mathematical skills reinforced, but social skills are developed too.