Dozens of maths professors and teachers have warned a draft plan to fix the “unambitious” national maths curriculum will make it worse, devaluing basics such as times tables and introducing vague, untested fads.
Education ministers have pointed to the review of the national maths curriculum as one of the solutions to the problem. The letter cites the re-badging of geometry as ‘space’ , under which students will focus less on abstract shapes and more on real-world context.They criticised proposals to delay the teaching of key concepts such as linear equations and times tables, which were pushed from year 3 to 4 and were “framed in terms of patterns and strategies, with no emphasis on mastery,” the letter said.
Another signatory, University of NSW Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology John Sweller, criticised the draft curriculum’s emphasis on inquiry learning, or the teaching philosophy that students learn better if they discover things themselves.
How did all the great mathematicians of history and past generations ever succeed - they learned first principles, applied sound patterns of reasoning and logic and had basic straightforward teaching with repetitive practice - no fancy ideologies and hollow methodologies