“The Wannado* Curriculum: A Math Teacher's Journey to the Dynamic Math 2.0 Classroom” presents glimpses of what 21st century math teaching and
learning could look like if, we truly embrace a student driven, teacher
supported, national approach. The flawed NCLB and recent “Race to the Top”
reforms are doomed to failure because they depend on a model that stubbornly
will not scale, namely having cadres of well-prepared teachers who are experts
in their field in every school. False hope continues to support these misguided
efforts because of success stories from smaller, more homogenous countries like
Finland and cities like Shanghai. Our more diverse, and heterogeneous approach
does not lend itself easily to copying their successful(?) platforms. We need our
own style that fits our needs better.
In
this book, I plan to address this issue head on and explain how we could have a
“tipping point” [1] where math
achievement dramatically improves without having to resort to “super teachers”
in the classroom to save us. Yes, we need good teachers, but to achieve
progress in student math learning we need to follow a variety of paths, not
just the one set over 100 years ago by the Committee of Ten
that outlined the current order of math topics in play today. What I propose is
not a new idea. John Dewey and other progressive pioneers (mostly ignored by
the mainstream decision makers in proposing solutions) offered it and practiced
it successfully in their pockets of influence and notably in places where
research studies acknowledged their success. Unfortunately, most reform efforts
just tinker around the edges and don’t get at the heart of the problem: Most
students find formal math learning boring and unrelated to their everyday life.
Even
the top kids who are successful have little choice in how they study
mathematics because the path has been set in stone, a path I call the “Royal
Road to Calculus” which has its origins in the aforementioned Committee of Ten
report.
The
question, then, is what can educators, parents, and mentors do to offer
alternatives to the current “one size fits all” path so that students will want
to go to school not just because they need the necessary credentials and
grades, but because they see the content of what they are learning as
significant stepping stones to their dreams and ambitions and because they have
adults around them who support their visions and provide the opportunities for
them to explore the paths that interest them. Everyday math
is important but it can be learned in much more creative and empowering ways
that enable students to see the value of math in their lives. This book will share examples of how
this can be done.
Now available at http://amzn.to/1E4b1RV
*
Wannado is the heightened version of “want to do” It’s what kids (and adults?) say when they really, really want to do something.
