Quote:
Originally posted by bilmore
Viewpoint may play a part in your perception. When you look at your kids' math books, and you see problems which don't really call for answers, but, instead, talk about things like "explore different ways that YOU might want to try to find a solution to this problem, and discuss these ideas with your exploration partners", and it strikes you as an appropriate approach to mathematics, well, I think our conversation is simply going to wander.
If, instead, your district has moved back to a more "yes, there IS one correct answer to this problem, and your job is to find it" mode, then, consider yourself lucky, because vast swaths of the country's school system have not yet done this. Speaking to an older friend, fairly high up in the MN ed system, and who is firmly of the belief that the "right answer" isn't as important as getting the kids to "think about strategies" last week, I was told that "a small percentage" of schools have "moved backward" in this regard - to the "find the answer" mode. I say this only to disclose where I'm getting the quantitative picture on where schools generally are across the country.
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My kid's homework looks nothing like this, though he is in private school so maybe that's why.
On the other hand, I once represented a non-profit that developed teaching techniques and materials for schools -- originally focused on teaching reading to elementary school kids, but later expanded to include writing, math, and science, and to reach middle school as well.
This program, which was in over 1000 schools, was extremely drill-oriented. The classes were highly structured. "Self-esteem" teaching did not seem part of the program, at least not from the materials I saw.
I raise this because the program was developed by some of those same, dread "academics" that Bilmore talks about, at one of those dreaded liberal universities that he believes is staffing our schools with teachers who believe that 2+2 can equal 5 if that makes you feel better.
Put differently, I suspect that things are a bit less monolithic that Bilmore argues. This may fall in with the "Dems who commit traitorous acts and support terrorism" line. (i.e., in the category of "complete Bilmore bullshit")
eta: I don't doubt that some teachers and books are like this. But schools throughout the country dominated by the "teach self-esteem" "movement", because that is what university education programs teach? Not so sure.
