We were instructed to read "A Mathematician's Lament" by Paul Lockhart for my math immersion class today. Honestly, this article was mind-blowing for me. It is long (25 pages) but is extremely thought provoking. I would recommend anyone that is interested in mathematics instruction, or why they hated it growing up, to read it, if you have time. To steal a review from the Mathematical Association of America, "It is, quite frankly, one of the best critiques of current K-12 Mathematics instruction I have ever seen."
In short, this article expresses why our current system of mathematics is a nightmare, and goes on to explain why. The article accomplishes this by providing analogies to other art forms in the world, and how they operate in comparison to mathematics. It also provides examples of what math really is, not what we are trained to believe it is in schools. Brilliant stuff.
"A Mathematician's Lament"
You'll like this relevant TED Talk:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover.html
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great video! just shared with my secondary math cohort members and subscribed to his blog...thanks
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