RE: Math Educations: who needs it, how much and when?
July 23, 2014 at 5:20 pm
(This post was last modified: July 23, 2014 at 5:30 pm by Bibliofagus.)
(July 23, 2014 at 4:36 pm)whateverist Wrote:(July 23, 2014 at 2:43 pm)Bibliofagus Wrote: Watched the video. And I kinda agree with the conclusions.
That's okay. I kind of do too. I mean lots of teachers enjoy the subject they teach but they don't all get the opportunity to inflict it on everyone whether they want it or not. While a certain level of being able to use math appropriately is important for everyone, that probably gets covered by the end of elementary school.
And the skills needed are practiced throughout the whole school career in other subjects. Like economics and stuff.
But I'd say the practice and exposure to at least some math is needed throughout a school career, and I'd be very reluctant to make any other subject that touches on math obligatory instead of math.
In my schooldays they got around this by having 2 sorts of math. You had to choose one. There was a kind of easy math with lots of exercises that looked easy and like a story, and one that did algebra and geometry.
(July 23, 2014 at 4:36 pm)whateverist Wrote: Of course, and especially here in the states, the argument against letting kids opt out is that the kids with the least support and wherewithal at home would be the ones opting out. So we'd basically be serving to maintain the status quo and doing nothing to give anyone a leg up.
While I totally agree with this I also remember lots of bright kids not getting the education they could have had because of math. This was mainly caused by the inflexibility of the school system in Holland. You had to make it though 4 years of pretty tough math before you could choose to drop it and concentrate on what you are good at. And some people, while brilliant, just don't get math. Even the easy one I mentioned. So they'd drop to a lower level where the math is easier.
