Educating Math Teachers
by Alfred S. Posamentier, Ph.D.
A well-known journalist was asked
what major he would advise a college freshman, enthusiastic
about embarking on a career in journalism. He replied, anything
in the liberal arts, but don’t take any journalism courses. Strange advice that
is perhaps unexpected. This sort of response reflects a growing
trend back to liberal arts. This theme is nobly touted in James
O. Freedman’s new book Liberal Education and the Public
Interest (University of Iowa Press, 2003). The basic argument
bandied about is that a well-rounded individual is more valuable
than a narrow specialist—the specialized training can
come later. It is well known that many large companies prefer
to train their own employees in ways that not only familiarize
them with the latest technology, but also reflect the company’s
culture. It is easier to train an educated person, than to
educate a trained person.
What might this tell us about how
we ought to prepare young people for careers in education?
There, too, the importance of having a proper liberal arts
education is rapidly gaining in importance. The previous
euphoria with specializing in teaching methods has taken
a “back seat” to providing potential
teachers with a well-rounded liberal arts education. Recently
it has become the rule rather than the exception that majoring
in education as an undergraduate has become less desirable
than majoring in an area of the liberal arts and sciences and
minoring in education as the ideal preparation for the teaching
profession. Those with a background in, or at least some moderate
exposure to, subjects like history, science, political science,
philosophy, psychology, and sociology will have a marked advantage
in understanding human behavior, understanding ways of thinking,
and benefiting from what has happened in the past and knowing
ways to analyze current events. In short, teaching is first
knowing content—and, at that, broadly—to be able
to make connections and comparisons to properly enrich the
instruction.
Teachers should not only be familiar
with the latest thinking about effective methods of instruction,
but also with the infusion of technology, done appropriately
and without the often-distracting flare that can accompany
these initiatives. Care must be taken that the technological
glitz can overshadow the subject. The key areas in education
today, especially from a political standpoint, are the “three R’s”—reading, writing
and arithmetic. These are the areas on which schools are judged.
A case in point is the recent listing of the 200 most effective
New York City schools—based on their performance on these
subjects.
It is expected that anyone who is university educated has
mastered the first two. It is usually the third, arithmetic
(or more accurately mathematics) that is lacking in the arsenal
of skills for most lower grade teachers. Why is mathematics
competence reserved for the few? To add insult to injury, why
are so many adults proud to admit their weakness in mathematics?
Is it because of the perception that the majority of the well
educated are weak in mathematics, and so being amongst the
majority is popular? Or is it that we do not see the direct
importance of mathematics as compared to literacy? Perhaps
an effort ought to be made to show the multifaceted usefulness
of mathematics beyond just some quantitative applications.
In this rapidly progressing technological
era competence in mathematics is becoming ever more essential,
not as a vehicle to be able to do arithmetic computations
more quickly (for that we have the ubiquitous calculator),
rather to understand mathematical concepts, reasoning, and
above all genuine problems-solving skills. We must better
prepare our elementary school teachers, not only in the content
of mathematics, but also in the ways they can motivate their
classes to begin to appreciate the subject, or its beauty
as well as its application. There is an inherent beauty in
mathematics that unfortunately stays hidden from most students
today because of a lack of properly trained math teachers
in our schools. The early years—when
youngsters’ interests are being developed are most essential
for excellent mathematic instruction. Yet this is where we
find to most math-phobic teachers. This must come to an end.
Pre- and in-service instruction must do more than show effective
teaching methods. Not only should a teacher come to the position
with a well-rounded liberal arts education, but it must include
a strong component in mathematics— one that stresses
its beauty and motivates the learner.
The training of new secondary school
math teachers must now focus not only on the basic content
underlying that, which is to be taught, but also on ways
that the subject matter can demonstrate its attractiveness.
This requires (obviously) a good command of the mathematics
beyond that which is to be taught, as well as a broad background
of the liberal arts. To make mathematics instruction interesting
it must be brought into the broader context of the liberal
arts. Teachers must be exposed to these “new” ways
to view the subject matter. They must be shown ways to motivate
youngsters, and they must recognize the powerful new ways
that our technological advances enable a deeper and more
genuine understanding of mathematical concepts. Early favorable
experiences with mathematics will surely increase chances
for success in college in this important subject.
How many math teachers today are resourceful enough to know
the constant interplay between geometry and algebra, or the
astonishing illustrations where various probabilities cause
us to reassess our natural intuition, or beautiful geometric
relationships that can be easily exhibited in a variety of
ways, not to mention the role mathematics plays in the arts?
Unfortunately too few. Perhaps most important about mathematics
instruction is that it provides a wonderful training ground
for developing life-long problem-solving skills that can be
used in everyday life as well as to solve math problems.
It is well known that there is a math teacher shortage of
crisis proportions in many areas of the country. This is not
different here. New York City is still facing a teacher shortage,
particularly in mathematics, special education, and bilingual
education. Incredibly, New York schools will need about 1000
mathematics teachers in September 2003. Shortages of any commodity
tend to reduce the quality of the product available. There
is a crying need for more intensive training of math teachers,
especially for many who will be asked to teach the uniform
curriculum being imposed on about 1000 schools this fall.
At The City College of New York,
we have played a major role in the Department of Education’s
efforts to stem the shortage crisis with an alternative teacher
certification program that provides a quick route to the
teaching profession. We hope these newly trained teachers,
coming to the profession with a rich liberal arts background,
will be able to provide effective mathematics instruction
while at the same time further enrich the liberal arts education
for the next generation of students.#
Dr. Alfred S. Posamentier is Dean, School of Education, The
City College of New York-C.U.N.Y.
