|
I'm surprised by the textbook picture/photo survey.
The gender issue in maths resurfaces from time to time. In my time as a maths teacher, I taught with many talented female maths teachers. So the female role models are there for the girls. I think schools have made a genuine attempt to remove gender stereotypes from subjects. You now find many boys doing Food Tech and many girls doing Woodwork and Metalwork.
Nothing polarises people like maths. So many people say "I can't do maths." and "I don't like maths". It seems that the way people's brains are hard-wired results in a very large range of maths ability. In most subjects, students can make an attempt at a question based on their own level of competence e.g. an essay on the mechanisms resulting in evolution could be answered simplistically or in much depth according to the student's ability. In maths, it's more black and white; either the student can answer the question or they can't. The fact is, less and less students are now doing maths for the HSC.
The challenge for the high school teacher of maths is to make the subject interesting and relevant, give everyone a chance at success and then still cover a compulsory curriculum. No easy task.
Regards, Rob.
|