Mathematics Textbooks

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I've never thought deeply about how math textbooks may shape how students (including my past self) perceive mathematics, but the article made an interesting in-depth analysis that made me rethink about my own experiences with my math textbooks as a student. Some points of interest to me were the mention of how most math textbooks use second person pronouns, especially structures such as (inanimate object + animate verb + "you"), and the use of verbs that express strong conviction and certainty. From these factors, it makes math textbooks feel very rigid and likely a reason they are not deemed very interesting to read by students (if students read them at all). By using second person pronouns, it feels very much like the textbook is controlling and directing the student to follow a set of rules and thinking processes. The "you" also makes it feel more directed to the student reading, having them work on the problems individually instead of discussing with a classmate. Meanwhile, the certainty of statements in the textbook may induce less creativity and questioning on the student's part. 

In this way, I don't particularly find mathematics textbooks appealing to use, at least not as the main source of learning for students. Textbooks give a good breakdown of chapters and topics that is useful for the teacher to use to structure and plan lessons. Furthermore, textbooks tend to have structured problems that increase in difficulty, so these are good resources as question banks for teachers or practice problems for students to work on. Nowadays, I see more workbook type of textbooks that contain problems for students to work directly in the book, individually or collaboratively, which I prefer over older textbooks I've seen/used. These workbooks also allow students to write their own personalized notes and understanding of the material directly in the book rather than having to stick to a rigid method given by a textbook.