Replies

“Why do they think this way?... and lack of exposure to regular students.

Many don’t want to acknowledge that people are born with different gifts. I knew one musically gifted guy who could jump from guitar, which he was good at, to a banjo, which he’d never played before, and in an hour or so, be playing it reasonably well. He denied he had a gift for music, but there it was. I cannot reliably tap my foot in time with music.

Natural math ability is a similar gift. Most don’t have it. Those who do may really enjoy exploring the wonders and pattern of math and probably do learn best by discovering things for themselves. Many math teachers no doubt have been at least partially touched by the gift. But for most humans, math instead of being a thing of beauty is a tool. A tool, that in order to be useful, must be mastered. And this is where we are failing today’s students.

The NCTM probably really do think that by exposing kids to the wonders of the patterns of math, the kids will come to love it just like they do. In my experience, it’s just not true. All that happens is the kids are confused and end up mastering nothing—and they are deprived of the benefits of the tool that math is.