US Math Education to Become Less Racist, More Inclusive

[Michel Meilleur]

You're the one throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Rote memorization was good enough for generations of humanity. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. By the way, gender studies is a wasted course and should be abolished. Colleges can reduce tuition costs by eliminating all programs that waste people's time and money.

You're apparently operating under the assumption that the only purpose of education is preparation for the workforce. But you have failed to consider that studies have value apart from the profits of capitalists.

If you're already rich, yeah. Honestly the meme of "oh yeah, education is for personal fulfillment" is too petit-bourgeois for me to be able to deal with.
For us, working and lower-middle class peoples, the point of education is helping you to make a living, hopefully more easily and with more "breathing room" than your parents had.

Which is exactly why most parents are so eager to invest so much in their kids' educations. Because they want them to have a better life.
Which is also why shitty public education is a nightmare for those very same parents. Because it means that they need to pay for private one which will actually be good now that public one has been (even more) ruined.

[The Alma Mater]

Helping children learn through song is not at all a "drastic social experiment". Nor is changing word problems to something that children will find more interesting.

Maybe you should realize that you don't need to give your opinion on topics when you're utterly ignorant of them. You seem to have little knowledge of mathematics and none at all about pedagogy.

Having children learn math through songs is not a drastic social experiment. It's just shit teaching. They're going to be in a hell of pain once they get to middle schools and high schools and people actually expect them to know real maths.

Why ? Based on the whole election hubbub earlier this year it is obvious that a large part of the USA, including many of its elected officials, does not grasp mathematics. Why would people expect these kids to be different ?

[Michel Meilleur]

Why ? Based on the whole election hubbub earlier this year it is obvious that a large part of the USA, including many of its elected officials, does not grasp mathematics. Why would people expect these kids to be different ?

"Peoples are shit at math right now, so we should just embrace that fact and not try to solve it."
Bruh.

If you don't start teaching it well, and song dances isn't "well" at all, then you're never going to have peoples be good at it.

[Diarcesia]

I think the criticism boils down to "teaching methods that Western civilization doesn't use is bad".

[Luminesa]

Helping children learn through song is not at all a "drastic social experiment". Nor is changing word problems to something that children will find more interesting.

Maybe you should realize that you don't need to give your opinion on topics when you're utterly ignorant of them. You seem to have little knowledge of mathematics and none at all about pedagogy.

Having children learn math through songs is not a drastic social experiment. It's just shit teaching. They're going to be in a hell of pain once they get to middle schools and high schools and people actually expect them to know real maths.

I learned my time tables through music. My teacher in 3rd grade played a math songs CD while we worked. Every. Single. Day.

Music probably doesn't work for every subtopic related to math, but little children learn especially well through music. Music engages the creative part of the brain, and music causes dancing! Quality exercise before doing math helps kids to focus better.

[Fahran]

To be absolutely fair and giving the benefit of a doubt, there were a few isolated cases that happened before. Again, emphasis on isolated and not widespread.

And here was one such problem, like damn.

Why would they think this was a good idea? People sometimes.

[Fahran]

Do liberals actually believe that black kids learn best through song and dance like some motown musical

I would posit that the implication that black children learn best through song and dance is the result of very poor reporting on the subject matter. In fact, it's quite possible the reporting is intended to get angry reactions from folks. They're still learning mathematics, and they're actually doing better on state tests - though I'm not really a big fan of standardized testing.

[Fahran]

Hey, hey. Don’t diss Motown. Motown is amazing.

And children learn much better with music. The foundations of children learning better through songs, dances, and other mnemonic techniques has evidence as far back as Aristotle.

Just to add on. Music and poetry are actually a great way to learn even for many adults. Listening to music in different laguages is a great way to improve your comprehension and singing along is a great way to develop your pronunciation. Let's not forget either that most of us learned our the alphabet and stuff about Columbus from mnemonic devices that took the form of songs and poems.

[Hispida]

Hey, hey. Don’t diss Motown. Motown is amazing.

And children learn much better with music. The foundations of children learning better through songs, dances, and other mnemonic techniques has evidence as far back as Aristotle.

Just to add on. Music and poetry are actually a great way to learn even for many adults. Listening to music in different laguages is a great way to improve your comprehension and singing along is a great way to develop your pronunciation. Let's not forget either that most of us learned our the alphabet and stuff about Columbus from mnemonic devices that took the form of songs and poems.

columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred ninety-two...

[Fahran]

columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred ninety-two...

And now it's stuck in my brain for another year.

[Michel Meilleur]

I learned my time tables through music. My teacher in 3rd grade played a math songs CD while we worked. Every. Single. Day.

Music probably doesn't work for every subtopic related to math, but little children learn especially well through music. Music engages the creative part of the brain, and music causes dancing! Quality exercise before doing math helps kids to focus better.

I'm trusting your knowledge as an educator in that regard, but you still need to learn by heart at one point or another and, leaving that aside, you still need to understand what you're learning which is something that is harder when you're learning it with music.

Also, I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised/dubious of listening to songs while attempting to learn something. I find it by experience rather bad to actually retain that knowledge.

[The Trump Country]

Half of the people here are retarded

[Hispida]

I learned my time tables through music. My teacher in 3rd grade played a math songs CD while we worked. Every. Single. Day.

Music probably doesn't work for every subtopic related to math, but little children learn especially well through music. Music engages the creative part of the brain, and music causes dancing! Quality exercise before doing math helps kids to focus better.

I'm trusting your knowledge as an educator in that regard, but you still need to learn by heart at one point or another and, leaving that aside, you still need to understand what you're learning which is something that is harder when you're learning it with music.

Also, I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised/dubious of listening to songs while attempting to learn something. I find it by experience rather bad to actually retain that knowledge.

i believe it's been scientifically proven (although i'm not 100% sure) that video game music increases concentration.

[Michel Meilleur]

i believe it's been scientifically proven (although i'm not 100% sure) that video game music increases concentration.

To perform a task, yes. Not to learn something. At least, that's how it is for me and for more or less everyone I know. Silence when you're trying to learn, and BGM/podcasts when you're doing menial tasks your brain can do on "auto-pilot".

[New Regovia]

Half of the people here are retarded

This might as well be the expected response from a nation such as yours.

[Luminesa]

I learned my time tables through music. My teacher in 3rd grade played a math songs CD while we worked. Every. Single. Day.

Music probably doesn't work for every subtopic related to math, but little children learn especially well through music. Music engages the creative part of the brain, and music causes dancing! Quality exercise before doing math helps kids to focus better.

I'm trusting your knowledge as an educator in that regard, but you still need to learn by heart at one point or another and, leaving that aside, you still need to understand what you're learning which is something that is harder when you're learning it with music.

Also, I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised/dubious of listening to songs while attempting to learn something. I find it by experience rather bad to actually retain that knowledge.

Oh of course, and again, music probably works better for some math topics than others. Lots of practice is necessary, and I think another good way to teach is by asking the child what they thought when they got to an answer. Even if they get it wrong, letting them know they can fix their mistakes through continued practice definitely also helps to build self-esteem.

If we go off Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, one form of intelligence is musical. This means a person shows their intelligence through music. However, people have-hence the name-multiple intelligences, and playing to those strengths helps different children learn. This is why many schools have centers. Some children can learn best by interpersonal work (finding answers with a friend), and other children use visual-spatial intelligence (drawing arrays, making tessellations, computer games, etc).

Music works best in an early childhood setting, and activates a lot of foundational skills in children. Not only do they learn fine-motor and gross-motor skills, but they of course learn how to keep rhythm. Rhythm ties into math, even if small children don’t realize it yet. It can work into word problems for older children as well. Let’s try an example with time signatures and music:

“Soundgarden’s ‘Fell on Black Days’ is played at a time signature of 6/4. Edith Pair’s ‘La vie en rose’ is played in a time signature of 4/4. Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’ is written in a time signature of 6/8. The Allman Brothers’ ‘Whipping Post’ is written in a time signature of 12/8. Order these time signature fractions from greatest to least.”

This would roughly follow some fifth-grade Common Core Standards for ordering fractions and using fractions with unlike denominators. It would also integrate music properly-kids can listen to all of these songs in a classroom, and would allow the teacher to integrate National Art Standards for understanding music.

[Mtwara]

Making, listening to or signing a song about a subject will absolutely help you remember it. The brain likes it when you can relate nuggets of info to each other, so latching information onto a catchy tune is a very practical thing to do.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/201 ... e-memories
https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecom ... in-a-song/

[Dakini]

Helping children learn through song is not at all a "drastic social experiment". Nor is changing word problems to something that children will find more interesting.

Maybe you should realize that you don't need to give your opinion on topics when you're utterly ignorant of them. You seem to have little knowledge of mathematics and none at all about pedagogy.

Having children learn math through songs is not a drastic social experiment. It's just shit teaching. They're going to be in a hell of pain once they get to middle schools and high schools and people actually expect them to know real maths.

Did you miss the part in the article where the children's test scores were improving or...?

They're learning the same material better than with previous methods.

[Michel Meilleur]

Having children learn math through songs is not a drastic social experiment. It's just shit teaching. They're going to be in a hell of pain once they get to middle schools and high schools and people actually expect them to know real maths.

Did you miss the part in the article where the children's test scores were improving or...?

They're learning the same material better than with previous methods.

It doesn't really mean much. Scores can improve because tests are easier. Scores can improve because peoples prepped more for them. Scores can improve just because of luck.

I still find myself quite doubtful of both the quality of the learning and of the effectiveness of the methods past basic education. While I'm ready to trust Lumi it can works with small kids, as they age and the material become more complex, it sounds like even less of a good idea to keep with song and dance.

[Spokesland]

That whole series of news articles are BS, there are some things that are somewhat racist in this world, but math is math

change my mind

[Vassenor]

That whole series of news articles are BS, there are some things that are somewhat racist in this world, but math is math

change my mind

No-one said Math was racist.

[-Astoria-]

After Ebri switched to emphasizing real-world problems and collaboration, her students, most of whom are Black, improved their scores on Florida's math exam in 2020-21 – even with 1 in 3 learning from home.

I see this as an absolute win.

[-Astoria-]

That whole series of news articles are BS, there are some things that are somewhat racist in this world, but math is math

change my mind

No-one said Math was racist.

Crap title is crap, who knew?

[Vassenor]

No-one said Math was racist.

Crap title is crap, who knew?

I mean the title doesn't say math is racist either, just that how kids were being taught it is being made less racist.

[Xmara]

I learned my time tables through music. My teacher in 3rd grade played a math songs CD while we worked. Every. Single. Day.

Music probably doesn't work for every subtopic related to math, but little children learn especially well through music. Music engages the creative part of the brain, and music causes dancing! Quality exercise before doing math helps kids to focus better.

I'm trusting your knowledge as an educator in that regard, but you still need to learn by heart at one point or another and, leaving that aside, you still need to understand what you're learning which is something that is harder when you're learning it with music.

Also, I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised/dubious of listening to songs while attempting to learn something. I find it by experience rather bad to actually retain that knowledge.

Maybe it doesn't work for you, but it works for some people. And is it really that ridiculous if it works?