Quite seriously, public school math teachers barely take real mathematics courses in college, at least not the courses for mathematicians, engineers and scientists. Those with education degrees really have degrees in indoctrination. This is how indoctrination works. All those with MathEd degrees go around convinced they have unquestionable knowledge. That is a case of a big fish in a small pond. They have been indoctrinated into thinking they are some kind of expert in mathematics when all they have is an education degree.
I personally watched "slower" people drop out of rigorous mathematics courses and majors when I was in college 40 years ago. The progression goes: start as a math major, if you can't hack it, then become a Math Ed major. If you can't hack that, then become an El Ed major with a concentration in bulletin boards.
“I personally watched “slower” people drop out of rigorous mathematics courses and majors when I was in college 40 years ago. The progression goes: start as a math major, if you can’t hack it, then become a Math Ed major. If you can’t hack that, then become an El Ed major with a concentration in bulletin boards. “
Nailed it. As a math/physics undergrad and a PhD in EE who chaired a EE dept not that long ago, those frosh math courses are grand predictors in separating future scientists from future politicians/eddikators/media types.
Sometimes, even that level is not the minimal level:
They have been indoctrinated into thinking they are some kind of expert in mathematics when all they have is an education degree.
Our teacher friend told us how that seems to work in California. The newest teacher on the staff gets to teach math. Her daughter was a rookie teacher and was terrible in math. Yet she was the math teacher at supposedly a good public school. So her daughter called her father, a retired pilot both AF and private to help explain her weekly lessons.
She did that for 3 years until another rookie came to work and became the “new math” teacher.