The history of the math curriculum development due to
societal movements and political motivations, provides great insight into how
types of instruction and understanding have become polarized. Continued
arguments about how to teach and what to teach within the schools has resulted
in an overall fear and intimidation of the subject since we seem to never be
able to “get it right”. This separation of method memorization and
understanding itself disrupts complete appreciation of math but explains the
dominant opinions and outlooks of the subject. In my own personal experience, I
continuously receive remarks of exclamation and almost awe of choosing to study
mathematics, as I am sure every post-secondary math student can attest, yet y
experience has only lead me to embrace math as another language I have become
fluent.
A possible contributing factor to the attitude towards
mathematics, offered by the article, is something that happens within the
classroom in the early years of education. Many elementary teachers do not feel
comfortable or confident with the subject and therefore often unconsciously
pass on these insecurities to their students. Methods of diverse instruction
and presentation are shied away from and heavy reliance on textbooks and
worksheets is introduced. This results in the common opinion expressed in the
article on page 349: “Anyone who does not do well under such a regime [lots of exercise and drills] may be written
off as not meant to do math.” It is no wonder then that insecurities have
thrived. This lack of confidence is carried forward and becomes increasingly
difficult to reverse as students move through higher levels of education.
If we can identity as early education as an important factor
in mathematic confidence, then it is essential for the teaching community to
come together to develop a solution. Perhaps teachers in early years who have
encountered success with specific techniques and lesson pans can begin
communicating these amongst not only colleagues, but with teachers in various
schools across districts. A shortage of math specialist exists in all levels of
education, however perhaps with the support of school administration, those
with experience and knowledge of the subject can attempt to outline their
approaches, develop workshops, share living documents, and teach content to
colleagues to increase their confidence when teaching students.
A general dialogue and exchange of practices need to be
encouraged within the teaching community to increase overall knowledge base of
those directly involved in inspiring mathematics understanding and content
delivery to students. The attitudes and stresses students bring to the
classroom evidently affects their academic success – so it is now time to
consider the impacts the teacher’s confidence and levels of stress in turn
impacts the students not only in the classroom, but as they continue on through
their education.
Great discussion of teacher confidence (or lack of it) in mathematics and its effects on students. I wonder if our tendency to treat elementary educators as generalists, teaching every subject under the sun, is part of the problem. If you subscribe to the BCAMT listserv you'll notice that it's mostly secondary teachers who contribute, mainly because they can focus on mathematics to a degree that's difficult for teachers of younger students to match.
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