I Rest My Case (part 2) - Reader comments at The New York Sun

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Reader comment on:
Do Social Issues Belong in Math Class?
in response to reader comment: Public school and teaching math

Submitted by Haim, Mar 5, 2007 08:57

My thanks to the several correspondents and their revealing comments.

So far, in this discussion, we have learned that Mr. Gutstein is concerned about social justice. Mr. Anderson is concerned about demographic realities, Eurocentrism, and hyper abstractionism. Ms. Kesson is troubled by Nike shoes, Barbie dolls, Cocoa Frosted flakes, housing patterns, and the incidence of asthma. Mr. Ward is concerned about all these things and Saturday morning cartoons. And Mr. Lawler, in addition to worrying about a "classed" society, Eurocentric logic and mathematics, wants to know why we teach William Shakespeare instead of Maya Angelou. (Is anybody still teaching Shakespeare? Would it were so.)

In other words, we seem to have a lot of math educators with a lot of things on their minds, not including math education. Really, is it any wonder that math education in the U.S. has collapsed?

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
In a journalistic attempt to polarize the discussion around integrating social issues and mathematics, the author makes a gross error... [MORE]	Ben Markunas	Jan 27, 2007 18:16
Gary Shapiro, I am one of the organizers of this upcoming mathematics education conference and a long time teacher of college... [MORE]	S E Anderson	Jan 24, 2007 17:06
S E Anderson writes on Jan 24, 2007 17:06 "However, if we accept the latter, then there is something fundamentally wrong... [MORE]	Haim	Jan 25, 2007 11:28
Re: Do Social Issues Belong in Math Class? by Gary Shapiro Professor Gutstein raises some important questions that none of the... [MORE]	Kathleen Kesson	Jan 24, 2007 09:54
Kathleen Kesson writes on Jan 24, 2007 09:54 "Why is there an assumption that people who wish to bring real world... [MORE]	Haim	Jan 25, 2007 12:43
"Students are not empty vessels when they enter a classroom; they already know and care about things like Nike shoes,... [MORE]	Shasa Ward	Feb 6, 2007 06:28
Originally, I wrote, "...if your goal is to teach math..." then you will use real world examples that are... [MORE]	Haim	Feb 8, 2007 20:43
Respondent Haim, as we all do, speaks from an ideology. His, as does Dr. Ravitch's, proposes that (1) our public... [MORE]	Brian R. Lawler	Mar 1, 2007 09:54
My thanks to the several correspondents and their revealing comments. So far, in this discussion, we have learned that...	Haim	Mar 5, 2007 08:57
"Let us make other parts of our lives and the world in which we live 'MEANINGFUL to the students.'" -... [MORE]	Shasa Ward	Jul 2, 2007 11:30

Reader comment on:Do Social Issues Belong in Math Class?in response to reader comment: Public school and teaching math

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Reader comment on:
Do Social Issues Belong in Math Class?
in response to reader comment: Public school and teaching math