Some of My Pet-Peeves with Mathematics Education
For nearly half-a-century I have been a mathematics-educator, and recently retired because of a mandatory retirement age for state workers in my country. As I think back over the years as to how the profession has changed, I am simultaneously proud and di
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Some of My Pet-Peeves with Mathematics Education Theodore Eisenberg
Abstract For nearly half-a-century I have been a mathematics-educator, and recently retired because of a mandatory retirement age for state workers in my country. As I think back over the years as to how the profession has changed, I am simultaneously proud and disillusioned. I am proud that there are so many different facets to our discipline, but at the same time I am disillusioned that there are so many different facets to our discipline, because we have seemingly lost sight of what our profession should be all about. Whereas many of us used to have appointments in departments of mathematics, the majority of us are now in departments of education, science teaching, cognitive science, and educational technology, where the teaching and learning of mathematics per se are attended to peripherally, if at all. Some colleagues claim we are discipline that has matured from it roots in mathematics; others however say we are a discipline that has lost its way. I am very much a member of this latter camp, a group that is shrinking in size daily. In an effort to inform the larger mathematical community of this state of affairs, I would like to put forth some of my pet-peeves on mathematics-education today. Keywords Mathematics-education · Subtopic of mathematics · Curriculum for mathematics-educators · Future of classroom mathematics
I have sometimes been described as being a malcontent—but I like to think of myself as being more of a critical observer than a disgruntled ingrate. Whatever, in keeping with these monikers, I would like start with a cri-de-coeur, and put onto the table a few of my current beefs.
Where Is the “Math” in “Mathematics Education” These Days? Please notice that I said “these days”, because I feel that at one time there was mathematics in mathematics education. T. Eisenberg (B) Department of Mathematics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel e-mail: [email protected] M.N. Fried, T. Dreyfus (eds.), Mathematics & Mathematics Education: Searching for Common Ground, Advances in Mathematics Education, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-7473-5_3, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
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As we all know, the sea of mathematics education is a large one, but most of us try to swim in only parts of it. There are those of us who worry about: • • • •
Dispelling math-phobia; and there are those who worry about How to give students non-verbal reinforcement; and those who worry about Verbal and social interactions in the classroom; and those of us who worry about Teaching techniques in inner-cities, and still others who worry about teaching techniques in rural areas via long-distance education; and there are those of us who worry about • Trying to understand how the brain works with respect to the sequencing and processing of information; and there are those of us who worry about • Understanding if there are gender differences in learning styles; while others worry about • The role of symbols in mathematics. Th
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