tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429608840965224723.post4531113628600860099..comments2016-01-14T09:21:27.263+00:00Comments on A' they wee words: Is learning supposed to be tough?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03034754884956544620noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429608840965224723.post-69888482340214080762014-09-04T10:57:50.449+01:002014-09-04T10:57:50.449+01:00Specifically on the issue of times tables though, ...Specifically on the issue of times tables though, I am not sure how relevant arithmetic actually is to the understanding and study of mathematics. I certainly know of mathematicians who are useless at arithmetic. My point in this post is that it seems that learning that is 'tough' is being prioritised precisely because it is inaccessible, which seems to me mad.<br /><br />I am good at arithmetic- always have been- but I know plenty of children who are not, and who find basic numeracy a real trial. The thing is that often when you get such children on to more advanced topics like algebra or differentiation they find that learning maths can be both challenging and enjoyable- surely the perfect combination. However if you put in place an absolute (and nowadays entirely artificial) stumbling block and say that they cannot progress to more challenging maths until they know their times tables up to 12, are you not narrowing rather than broadening their horizons?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03034754884956544620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429608840965224723.post-630615468526412072014-09-03T17:21:34.007+01:002014-09-03T17:21:34.007+01:00I think you've missed a debate or two. People ...I think you've missed a debate or two. People have come to realise (and psychologists have been saying it for decades) that our thinking depends to a large degree on what we know and how well we know it, and those parts of thinking that don't are generally unteachable.<br /><br />Teaching the addition of fractions is so much easier if kids know their times tables than if they don't. Only the most gifted have a hope of understanding it if they are having to fiddle with calculators to follow the example. Knowledge, and fluency with that knowledge, enables us to understand, think and also to learn more knowledge more effectively.<br /><br />Also, maybe we do learn more when we are motivated to learn it, but that is no excuse to only learn what we are already motivated to learn. Education should be about broadening our horizons, introducing us to more than what we are already familiar enough to care about. Ignorance has very little to recommend it and it is a shame that so many people who could have taught children the best of what has been thought or known decided that this heritage was not for future generations.oldandrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10754487569367573087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429608840965224723.post-40256429697486843772014-09-01T19:21:14.290+01:002014-09-01T19:21:14.290+01:00I agree, sadly true.I agree, sadly true.Mr I Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12809966300241261075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429608840965224723.post-18826883261189781682014-09-01T17:29:20.113+01:002014-09-01T17:29:20.113+01:00You're just old fashioned.
But seriously- it&...You're just old fashioned.<br /><br />But seriously- it's not even as if the argument is being made for these changes on the grounds of them being useful (how useful would it ever be to know the dates of accession of the kings and queens of England?). It seems they have been introduced because they are tough.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03034754884956544620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429608840965224723.post-77180953739990459692014-09-01T14:05:04.418+01:002014-09-01T14:05:04.418+01:00I still think that it is useful to be able to calc...I still think that it is useful to be able to calculate simple "times table" sums in my head faster than a young person can take out their phone, input the password/gesture, find the calculator app and key in the calculation. Or am I just old-fashioned?Mr I Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12809966300241261075noreply@blogger.com