Comment by ColinWright
Comment by ColinWright 3 days ago
I suspect part of the friction here is the difference between teaching math to people who will not go on to study it at an advanced level, versus teaching it to people who will.
In that case, what is being taught is actually different, it's the similar in some senses to the difference between teaching someone to operate a machine, versus teaching them how to maintain, fix, and possibly improve said machine.
I've said for a long time that if only we could identify early the students who will not go on to study mathematics at an advanced level then we could better benefit them by having a substantially different curriculum taught in a completely different style.
But even then, the willingness to be confused by something, and resilience in the face of being made to feel stupid not by the teacher[0] but by the current (temporary!) lack of understanding, is really, really powerful.
[0] Teachers who unnecessarily make students feel stupid should be prevented from ever, ever going near students again. Ever.
> If we get the chance some time, it would be super fun to discuss math & education over coffee!
Where are you based? I travel a lot ... my email is in my profile, and you could always register with my "Meet With Me" system to get a heads-up if I'm going to be in the area.
> if only we could identify early the students who will not go on to study mathematics at an advanced level then we could better benefit them by having a substantially different curriculum taught in a completely different style.
Yeah I'd very much agree with this. Actually strong agree with all your points there, it’s well aligned with what I think I was trying to say.
I’m US based, currently mostly Utah, sometimes California.