On reading this article, I related closely my experience in school of mathematics and the pedagogy it was determined by. We learned the basic concepts… enough to pass exams, and even then it was not a guarantee as much of the time we were unable to identify the relation to everyday life. I recall asking a “why” question to my standard grade maths teacher which was responded to with a “because you do” answer. This was a regular occurrence throughout my school existence, the explanations and relevance were brief and uninsightful.
The introduction of Curriculum for Excellence threatened to challenge such isolated pedagogy, but my experience in the classroom suggests otherwise. Mathematics is being loosely taught following the new guidelines while old techniques of teaching the subject are clearly prevalent. Cross curricular links are being used but not with the depth and breadth they could be.
During my time in one school I found myself with the concept of teaching a lesson on area and perimeter. Coincidently, as described in this article, the classrooms topic work was focusing on Ancient Egypt. I’d like to say that as stated by Marcus du Sautoy I related the history of why mathematics was so relevant in Ancient Egyptian times, unfortunately I did not and created a worksheet for the class as suggested by my classroom teacher. *Sigh*. The children in the classroom enjoyed completing the worksheet, but on reading this I am disappointed in my own pedagogy. I realise now, that a basic understanding of mathematics will not be enough for all learners. Many, like myself, will need a much broader understanding of the relevance and history behind such concepts to make coherent sense of their learning. http://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/jun/23/maths-marcus-du-sautoy