Now here's something that I can relate to.<\/p>\n
Lockhart's Lament [no longer available] rails against the way mathematics is taught in too many schools — as a rigid system of mindless algebraic rules with little meaning and very little beauty. It's by Paul Lockhart who has been a math researcher as well as a K-12 math teacher.<\/p>\n
The opening paragraph caught my attention immediately:<\/p>\n
\nA musician wakes from a terrible nightmare. In his dream he finds himself in a society where music education has been made mandatory. \u201cWe are helping our students become more competitive in an increasingly sound-filled world.\u201d Educators, school systems, and the state are put in charge of this vital project. Studies are commissioned, committees are formed, and decisions are made\u2014 all without the advice or participation of a single working musician or composer.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
His point, of course, is that much mathematics education is hijacked by people who know nothing about it.<\/p>\n
This is a long but passionate rave and well worth the jolt that it may give you (math student and math teacher alike).<\/p>\n
Towards the end he gives a summary of what is really<\/i> going on in the math curriculum. Here's one of the entries:<\/p>\n
\n