Re: newnewwholemath

Linda Polin (lpolin who-is-at pepperdine.edu)
Tue, 3 Aug 1999 07:18:31 -0700

What I find interesting is that so many of the anti-new math parent groups
turn out to be made up of middle class white folks who are engineers, etc
and whose take on the whole thing is "hey, it worked for us, don't change
it." It seems to be as much about change as anything really truly
conceptual.

A few years back I asked a grad student who is an asst super at a local
district to bring in a tape from a recent board meeting at which one such
parent type stands to argue against "all this cooperative group crap" by
declaring its irrelevance, shouting that he's an engineer and he never has
to work in groups. (This is, btw, a district famous for its inability to
pass bond measures.)

It's a scary tape and I think I may have frightened some of my credential
students.

Linda P.