My first 'stop' in the article was while I was reading through the table contrasting conservative and progressive math education stances. I was homeschooled up until grade 5, and I realized that my math education in that period was absolutely conservative: I drilled multiplication, division, and basic algebra over and over, and hardly ever explored the 'why'. This meant I had a pretty easy time of it later in public school, where the other student's hadn't had so many drills, but I wish I could have used some of that time to get a head start on my exploration and understanding.
I stopped for a second time, when I read about teachers who "thrived as students in the orderly, obedient world of certainty represented by traditional, conservative mathematics classrooms." That line describes me pretty well, so it prompted a bit of concern that I might end up being one of those teachers who perpetuate the traditional system and expect students to perform as well as I did. It's a good reminder that I need to be aware of the effects my education has had on my teaching style.
Finally, my third stop was in reading about the failure of the "New Math" program. As a pure math student, I'm a fan of rigour and abstraction, and sometimes I daydream about introducing my students to "real math". But of course, this might be another example of my own education getting in the way of teaching high school students effectively. Not that that style of math has no place in the classroom, but I don't want to force it constantly upon all my students, who may (rightfully) have very little interest in it.
Hi Zack, I really like how you have a clear view on how there's a difference between what you want to teach and what the students want to learn. Sometimes, the stuff you enjoy isn't necessarily the same as the others. Learning how to notice what the students need and figure out the best way (of your own style) to deliver your lesson is very curial in a teacher's career.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think it's a difficult balance - on one hand, students aren't always going to enjoy learning everything they need to learn, and we shouldn't restrict ourselves to teaching only the things they like. But on the other hand, we need to be sensitive to what's important to them, and the more we align our content with that, the better they will learn.
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