MISUNDERSTANDING MATH EDUCATION

MARY JANE G. MONTEMAYOR

Unfortunately, leaders in industry who work in mathematics, science and engineering don’t realize how much Philippine elementary schools teacher’s education have been neglected. They seem to suspect that teachers will fully turn children against real math and science.

Corporate leaders and politician tooo often think that if they mandate higher standards, the schools will achieve more, furthermore, they seem to think that test can enforce such mandates, whether or not teachers know math and science. Until teachers do, mandated “proficiencies” often have the opposite effect.

Since Drill and Kill has become an accepted escape for teachers who can only parrot the text, colleges are relieved from responsibility of teaching prospective teachers math. Just let them give their charges worksheet? Practice, practice, practice”. Who cares where the practice leads?

One place that it leads is to widespread cheating. Both the drillable subject matter and the types of test that measure it make cheating especially easy.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think that occasionally telling a “pre-addition “child that three plus four equals seven does anymore harm than saying, “The cow jumped over the moon,” It may do more good.

However, if children are forced to recite or write 3+ 4 = 7 before they know about three, four, plus , and equals, they will associate with being “out of it”. Such children “learn’that they are incapable of learning mathematics, and that mathematics is form of torture.

True mathematical learning is based on understanding patterns. If forgotten, the understanding is much easier to generate the second time, and vastly easier the third. Once we internalize patterns, they become part of us.

— oOo—

III at Remedios Elementary School The author is Teacher