[Xmca-l] Re: Fwd: NYTimes.com: Why Do Americans Stink at Math?

[Avram Rips]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/eight-problems-with-common-core-standards/2012/08/21/821b300a-e4e7-11e1-8f62-58260e3940a0_blog.html
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Katherine Wester Neal" <wester@uga.edu>
To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2014 2:25 PM
Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Fwd: NYTimes.com: Why Do Americans Stink at Math?


> What an interesting article! I am thinking about the lack of focus on 
> specific contexts in the article's discussion of teaching and learning to 
> teach as a practicing teacher. Is it possible to go about such change 
> (from "old" math to new math or Common Core math) with little/no 
> consideration for what kinds of teaching might work in a particular school 
> culture or the social context of a given classroom? I think less of a 
> standardized approach (here, everyone do this) and more focus on what 
> works locally (here are some ideas; now decide what might work for you) 
> might help teachers learn to teach Common Core math in a way that actually 
> works in their particular context. To adapt phrase from Magdalene Lampert, 
> it might bring about more sustainable change as they are "re-learning 
> teaching" in their schools.
>
> Because Common Core math is so different, perhaps this re-learning 
> teaching requires a radical new approach instead of the same old 
> professional development. Learning through the Japanese jugyokenkyu method 
> sounds like it might be very useful, but there doesn't seem to be a push 
> for reforming how teachers learn once they are in the field. (Except that 
> if enough of their students fail the Common Core-aligned tests, they will 
> eventually be out of a job.)
>
> It seems nonsensical to implement incredibly high-stakes tests without 
> significant investment in re-learning teaching and with, as far as I know, 
> no research on how to learn to teach Common Core as a practicing teacher. 
> I, too, wonder about how these issues are handled in Japan?
>
> Katie
>
> Katie Wester-Neal
> University of Georgia
> ________________________________________
> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu> on 
> behalf of Huw Lloyd <huw.softdesigns@gmail.com>
> Sent: Monday, July 28, 2014 12:58 PM
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Fwd: NYTimes.com: Why Do Americans Stink at Math?
>
> On 28 July 2014 16:46, Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com> wrote:
> [...]
> These students had learned
>>
>> incredibly well how to solve recipe Physics but they had no idea about 
>> how
>> the basic principles of Physics worked.
>>
>
> Greg,
>
> I would say the ethics of the situation go deeper than simply (un)learnt
> capabilities, but rather to the development of the student's creative
> capabilities (or, rather, the stunting of them).
>
> Best,
> Huw
>