The pendulum has swung back with comments by the Group of Eight universities that maths education in Australia is in crisis due in part to a lack of skilled maths teachers.
I made the point recently that it would have been good to start the national curriculum with a focus on the arts, music, dance, geography. The humanities seem to go missing when we assume that economic prosperity is dependent on the hard sciences.
Is this really the case? In a post-industrial world, should there be a focus on traditional subjects. If we take heed of Dan Pink’s argument in a Whole New Mind or Ken Robinson in The Element – you see another way of looking at this.
As we begin to reap the benefits of being connected in an online world, there is a drastic need for a re-imagination of the curriculum. A curriculum that does not simply transfer knowledge but one that is relevant to students, engages and motivates, challenges every learner and involves the imagination and emotions.
Do maths teachers agree?
