Math Discussion

 There was a Mathematics Conference held in Portland back about  month ago....run by the University of Oregon.

So this one high school teacher (from Oregon, Jered Ratliff) came up to deliver a lecture with the topic....“Mathematics as a tool of oppression.” 

Basically, this whole presentation got into the topic of politicization of math, and then stepped into the idea of math being an oppressive tool.  

I read through commentary...at least he did note that it's an important part of education,  but he also laid out that efforts often 'inhibit discovery' (the learning process).

Around the 6th grade (this was a rural school going from the 1st to the 9th grade)....I went through a four-year period of crappy math teachers (four separate folks).  

What I came to learn from four years of wasted math instruction....there were four separate teachers brought in and 'attempted' (I use the word because I can't grasp how things could not get resolved or improved) math instruction.  

Oppressive?  Yes, it was a pretty harsh situation, and a total waste man-hours.  

I left the school and ventured into the 10th grade, with a totally different instructor, and simplified book.  The design of the class?  Here's the book....move at the best pace.  Week after week, I ventured a couple of pages ahead of the group.  By early December, I began to calculate that I'd have the book finished and completed all tests by mid-January.  

My own belief?  You probably should go and fire 75-percent of math teachers in America because they can't convey the topic, and they won't readily use the best designed books. 

I suspect if you tested a thousand 17-year old kids on general math skills....more than half would marginally pass the test.  In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if you tested 12-year old kids in the same group and discover that the 17-year old kids mostly maxed out on math skills in the sixth-grade.