TODOS Podcast · TODOS Mathematics for ALL

S4E12: Teaching, Community, and Change with Bobson Wong

·1 hr 3 min·4 clips

Bobson argues that math is a language, not just written symbols.

Teddy Chow and Sherry Kaku greet Bobson Wong with an introduction that places him in math education, teacher leadership, and community work. Bobson then takes the conversation in a more personal direction. He says he was a history major, which still surprises people who expect something else from an Asian American math teacher. He notes that people often sort him into assumptions before they hear his story. He went to a good high school and a good college. He also earned a master's in history, and people still have trouble processing that, especially because it was U.S. history rather than Asian history. The conversation settles on the fact that he never had an Asian teacher during his K-12 years in New York City. His Chinese teacher in high school was Greek. The only Asian instructor he remembers from his education was a professor in an Asian history class that he took in college. Even at Princeton, his math professors were not Asian. That absence is part of why community matters to him now. He says larger spaces have helped him a lot. He does not treat community as just a place to complain. For him, it is a place where people already know what you mean. You can say, I experienced that, and nobody needs a translation. The hosts stay with that idea. They talk about the relief of showing up as yourself without having to justify yourself or prove yourself. The episode keeps coming back to change as something social, not just technical. Education can turn into a nonstop search for the next strategy or teaching tool. Bobson pushes back against that pressure without getting bitter. In the closing stretch, the conversation shifts to critique. Bobson and Sherry talk through how delicate it can be to tell new teachers they are not enjoying themselves. They think about sugarcoating, relationship, and how easily blunt feedback can land badly. The discussion does not rush to a neat answer. Instead, it treats teaching as a practice of care that has to stay honest and humane at the same time. That gives the episode its shape and its weight.

As heard by us

A steady conversation about belonging, community, and teaching without having to explain yourself.

Bobson Wong's conversation with Teddy Chow and Sherry Kaku starts with math teaching and then opens into belonging, community, and what it feels like not to have to explain yourself. Bobson talks about growing up without Asian teachers, studying U.S.

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Why you'd press play

For a reflective listen on teaching, identity, and community, start here.

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