Why should pupils be barred from learning math and science just because the parents did not enjoy sufficient education?
In the US we changed how math is taught about 10 years ago. 1 + 1 is still equal to two, but the children are taught an entire new methodology for calculation. I'm a nuclear engineer and had to re-learn how to do basic maths just to be able to help my children when they struggle with basic arithmetic.
To be honest, the new system (called common core) is incredibly complex and emphasizes proof of work over accuracy and understanding. It is supposed to lead to a better understanding of math. In reality, it's just really complex and difficult to learn.
Mathematics education in the United States has been in constant flux since the post-war era. The objections some parents have against “Common Core math” (which, incidentally, is not mandated by the Common Core; that is merely a set of uniform content standards) are the same objections parents had against New Math in the seventies.
My personal opinion is that the US has a bad case of Not Invented Here when it comes to pedagogy (half structural racism, half vestigial anti-communism, half class warfare, and half other things) which is then amplified by inconsistent funding and limited federal oversight.
Even if you burnt every grade school math textbook written after 1950, the problem would still persist.
Comments
In the US we changed how math is taught about 10 years ago. 1 + 1 is still equal to two, but the children are taught an entire new methodology for calculation. I'm a nuclear engineer and had to re-learn how to do basic maths just to be able to help my children when they struggle with basic arithmetic.
To be honest, the new system (called common core) is incredibly complex and emphasizes proof of work over accuracy and understanding. It is supposed to lead to a better understanding of math. In reality, it's just really complex and difficult to learn.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics_education_in_the...
Mathematics education in the United States has been in constant flux since the post-war era. The objections some parents have against “Common Core math” (which, incidentally, is not mandated by the Common Core; that is merely a set of uniform content standards) are the same objections parents had against New Math in the seventies.
My personal opinion is that the US has a bad case of Not Invented Here when it comes to pedagogy (half structural racism, half vestigial anti-communism, half class warfare, and half other things) which is then amplified by inconsistent funding and limited federal oversight.
Even if you burnt every grade school math textbook written after 1950, the problem would still persist.