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Re: parent's messages
Posted:
Feb 2, 1997 1:14 AM
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Whenever I think I understand Toom, like a chameleon he changes.
Suddenly he is quoting Vygotsky, Piaget, and (I believe he meant)
Seymour Papert. I wonder what they would think of the tone and content
of "Mathematically Correct" which Andre so ardently endorses? If I were
you, Professor Toom I wouldn't let those at "Mathematically Correct"
know that you espouse such radically constructivist ideas--The ideas of
the three people you have mentioned would certainly be anathema to those
who want to discredit, debunk, and stop the reforms embodied in the
Standards.
H^2
Andre TOOM wrote:
>
> I absolutely agree. This is what I am trying to bring home all the time:
> teenagers are normally interested in abstractions and can master them.
> I quoted Vygotsky because I know his writings better, but I am sure
> that Piaget had essentially the same opinion on this. Regretfully,
> some teachers of mathematics don't know enough mathematics to offer
> their students interesting problems. The students are frustrated and
> educators misinterpret this frustration as lack of interest in
> abstractions. Then these educators insist on using cumbersome and
> fat-fetched `real-world' problems, the students are bored still more,
> and all the situation gets into a vicious circle.
>
snip (quote from Powell's original message)
> Seimour Papers used such activities in his classes of Logo.
> But his students were of elementary school age and I think
> that this is important. For high school students this a ridiculous
> infantilism. High school age is time for a powerful development
> of abstract thinking and mastery of formalisms.
> (This does not exclude athletics, games, picnics etc.)
>
--
Howard L. Hansen
Southeastern Jr./Sr. High School
Bowen, IL
http://www.ECNet.Net/users/mfhlh/wiu/index.htm
"Good mathematics is not how many answers you know,
but how you behave when you don't know the answer."
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