Battleground Schools

Battleground Schools: Summary and Reflection

The chapter of Battleground Schools which focuses on mathematics education begins by highlighting the ideological schism which has been the source of many of the changes to math curricula in North America. The two main camps vying for influence in this conflict are the traditionalists (lecture, homework and assessment based) and the progressives (focused on understanding, inquiry and learning through experimentation). The article then gives an overview of the history of math education from the beginning of the 20th century to our present day. The Progressivist Reform (circa 1910 – 1940) sought to reinvigorate school math teaching by giving preference to the ‘why’ aspects of problem solving. Through this effort, they aimed to shift emphasis away from inexplicable procedural computation, and focus on improving students’ understanding. Following the launch of Sputnik in 1957, North Americans became intensely afraid of falling behind the Soviet Union technologically. The ‘New Math’ movement of the 1960s was a result of this insecurity, and its aim was to produce a generation of rocket scientists. What this led to was a massive overhaul of North American math curricula through the addition of many abstract topics, such as set theory and linear algebra. Ultimately, this approach was scrapped, as it neglected the importance of basic skills and the material was beyond the understanding level of many teachers. The article concludes with a section outlining the current conflicts which are raging due to the implementation of nationally standardized curricula, and it emphasizes the importance of working toward a consensus between the two ideological positions.
I really enjoyed this article. I found it to be a very good overview of the different directions math education has been taken in over the past century or so. Particularly, upon reading about the ‘New Math’ movement, I was reminded of an idea I had several years ago about potentially including an abstract algebra class in high schools. I think that exposing more gifted students to some of the elements of pure mathematics is an important idea, and worthy of consideration; however, I do not believe that these elements could ever serve as the bedrock for an entire set of K – 12 curricula. Concern for foundation skills would need to be addressed. Additionally, I was very interested to see the correlation between traditionalist views about math teaching, and evangelical Christian lobby groups. It would seem that even in math, there are rigid, dogmatic thinkers who attempt to push their views upon others. Overall, I feel like this article is an excellent source of background information for any prospective math instructor.