Class 2

Stigma of Different Mathematics Courses





During this class we had a chance to look over the various mathematics course curriculums, and discuss the differences between them. I found this class to be interesting, and eye-opening because it raised an issue of how we view the different math courses.  During this class, we were given a prerequisite chart for mathematics in grade 9 to 12.  In the past I have had the opportunity to skim through the Ontario mathematics curriculums, and I never really thought much of this chart until this class.  The way the chart is set up is with the mathematics courses for work and every day at the bottom, the applied/ college courses in the middle, and the academic/ university level courses on the top.  This is significant because it makes it seem like certain courses are more superior then others, which is not the case!  Upon realising this, I began to think of my own thoughts on different course streams, and I realised that I also have my own biases of these different courses.  For example, prior to this course, I viewed the university/ academic maths as being taken by students who excelled at mathematics, and I viewed the applied and workplace stream of mathematics as generally being taken by students who did not understand math as well.  Now I realize that the different streams are just different paths students may be interested in, and it does not determine their level of thinking in mathematics.  For example, a student may choose to take the workplace mathematics course because they want to learn finances, and mathematics that could help them in their day-to –day lives, rather than because they cannot do mathematics at an academic level.  I also realised that doing math at an academic level does not necessarily mean that the mathematics is harder. For example, the difference between the mathematics in various courses could be mainly the methods it is taught with (i.e. one course could be strongly reliant on symbols and abstract, whereas another course could be more focused on application). 

Comments

  1. mandyg4 October 2017 at 11:37

    Hi Danielle,
    I really enjoyed you blog post for this week because I initially had the same biases as you. I always seen the applied stream as a second option for students when they realize they can’t excel in the academic level. The way the curriculum is set up also gives the applied stream, as well as, the work place stream a negative connotation. The fact that the academic stream is shown first only solidifies our biases as the academic stream being the most superior of the levels. In my blog post for week 5 I talked about how I was devastated when my grade 9 math teacher recommended me to go into the applied stream. I thought that my teacher was doing me a disservice by putting me at a lower math level. I also thought that my teacher was basically telling me that I was not good enough at math to stay in the academic level. After understanding that the applied level was a lot more hands on and took math at a slower level I wonder now if it would have been a good route for me. It wouldn’t mean that I was worse at math than other students but that the way things were taught could have made more sense to me. School systems today are thinking about brining both the applied and academic streams together. I think this would force teachers to use multiple teaching strategies to accommodate for learners that are more hands on and those who are more abstract. To have both strategies taught in one stream could allow students to make more connections to understand problems and thus allow them to reach their highest mathematical potential. Although there are challenges with this in terms of time constraints, teaching in various ways, I think this would make for better teachers and students.

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