I get quite despairing at times when I listen to the political football that is education. 😔 It is not all negative, however, as there are many people who are trying to improve things for everyone. There are many great teachers and tutorials on the internet.
To anybody interested, I will recommend an essay you can easily find online called “Lockhart’s Lament”, which highlights many of the problems that exist. The first half is full of dubious analogies and a questionable understanding of art and music. However, the second half is full of concrete examples of where the problem lies. Lockhart diagnoses the problems in great detail and says things we might be thinking but do not know how to articulate. This man is a real mathematician with a vast wealth of knowledge to draw upon.
Basic Computer Programming in High Schools 💻
One of the developments we have seen in Britain, and I’m sure there are developments in comparable countries, is the call for basic computer programming to be introduced in high schools. In theory, this sounds like a good idea, yet there seems to be no evidence given as to why this will help students. There is no better way to kill enthusiasm for a subject than to make it a compulsory part of the school curriculum. People who like these things are drawn to it outside of the school environment, in my opinion.
The Rise of Standardized Testing 📚
The rise in standardized testing, which takes the form of NAPLAN in NSW and “No Child Left Behind” in the United States, is an interesting development. I am in favor of some form of standardized testing. However, I cannot help but notice that there is some confusion as to what the purpose of the tests are. We are always told that NAPLAN gives us information, yet the information it gives basically disappears into a vacuum and nothing changes at the school level. In other words, very little is done with the information once we gain it. Parents of poorly performing students will get tutoring for their children, partly because they get little support anywhere else.
Making Maths “Interesting” and “Relevant” 📊
Take recent developments in Britain, although I am sure it is much the same here. We constantly hear about how we need to make maths “interesting” and “relevant,” and the ways in which we need to do this are by using word problems. Word problems at the primary school level involve things like how many donuts we can buy with a certain amount of money or using belly flops to talk about trigonometry or projectile motion. It is suggested that people who do not take to mathematics at an early age would take to it if only these bells and whistles were added. However, if the previous mathematics education was not “relevant,” why assume that a sugar-coated version of the same curriculum will be?
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Making Maths Relevant to the “Real World” 🌍
It is constantly asserted by some people that the best way to get people interested in maths is to make it relevant to the “real world.” As if the “real world” consists merely of mundane repetitive tasks many adults are forced to do for a living. The answers here are usually along the lines of teaching students how to manage their personal finances, fill out tax forms, and maybe even do double-entry bookkeeping. While there is nothing wrong with teaching these things, they are not deeply mathematical in nature and certainly do not constitute a mathematical education.
Mathematics: More than Mundane Tasks
In my opinion, if we think about this seriously for more than a couple of seconds, this sort of thinking is deeply flawed. Do people really think that poor, unfortunate students in a class really want to spend a lot of time doing that sort of thing? It would not take very long to adequately teach people how to do these things anyway. Most adults can do their taxes without needing formal training and have a fairly good idea of what they can spend within their budget. And when students can do these things, it begs the question: Do students stop doing maths altogether when they have gained these shallow competencies?
The Beauty of Mathematics 🧠
Understanding mathematics gives you a whole new way of looking at the world. That is not an abstract idea, as it has many material consequences. Entire fields of thought are cut off if you do not enjoy maths. Maths can give you a lot of solitary pleasure, which is the best feature of it.
Mathematics: The Skill that Takes Time
Notice that many people have missed the simple and honest truth: hard work is the only way to learn mathematics. Furthermore, knowing that your hard work has paid off is what makes mathematics—and all activities—fun. Things like the school curriculum are largely elements on the side, as what matters more is what you discover during your own studies of the subject. Like swimming and riding a bicycle, mathematics is a skill that can only be learned by spending a lot of time working at it.
