StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Teaching Math for a Better America - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The author of the paper titled "Teaching Math for a Better America" gives a roadmap of the transformational change effort the author plans to initiate at his/her school by using his/her teaching of mathematics as a tool for educational and social reform…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.5% of users find it useful
Teaching Math for a Better America
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Teaching Math for a Better America"

Teaching Math for a Better America (TMBA A Roadmap for Social Transformation Teaching Math for a Better America (TMBA) This paper gives a roadmap of a transformational change effort I plan to initiate at my school by using my teaching of math as a tool for educational and social reform. Need for Change As a mathematics teacher in an inner city school in Hawaii, how can I be a change agent My answer is to change the way I motivate my students so they learn to love math and use that as a starting point to make a difference in their lives, families, and communities. Many students hate math for the wrong reasons. Even some co-teachers feel the same way, and this attitude influences their students and mine. This has to change because if people see math beyond what makes it difficult, and begin to appreciate all the subject has to offer, a new world of possibilities opens up that can give meaning to the lives of so many. This is the ultimate goal of my program, Teaching Math for a Better America (TMBA).. Math requires mental discipline and order, and teaches us to look beyond the obvious so our minds reach the abstract. Math as a mental exercise helps us understand and appreciate what we cannot see: great ideas such as good and justice, equality and freedom, nothingness and the infinite. Math helps us appreciate music, tempo, and rhythm, aspects of art that reflect order and proportion in life, nature, and the universe. With abstraction and order come the ultimate possibility of grasping the existence of the spiritual and the divine. I want to use math, and teaching math according to the TMBA principles I would develop, as the focal point of a transformational change in my school, in the way we teach and motivate students, and how we look at our work. Math made it easy for the human mind to handle the great calculations that have transformed our knowledge of the universe. It can also be the agent that would help transform America and the world and bring to learning, teaching, and working the spiritual meaning it sorely needs. Causes of Change The graduate course in education has made me realize that, more than ever, teaching is hard work, and not just because of lesson plans, tests, coping with behavioral problems, and the need to counsel students (Glatthorn, 1999). Teaching is hard work because it is the process of forming the human mind and the human spirit. This insight dawned on me as I went through the course on ethics and justice and saw a deeper meaning in what we do. Most teachers do not see beyond the formal side of teaching and education. Many of us seem to have lost the love and appreciation for our calling as teachers that demand from us a life of sacrifice and dedication. Our schools have become knowledge factories that numbly turn out thousands of minds each year with efficiency. But are we effective I doubt it. Our educational system is producing geniuses without hearts, humans without a conscience and a sense of justice and ethics who later on become scientists, politicians, and businessmen, no doubt great men and women all, who enrich our nation's material riches but who in turn take away our humanity and lay the seeds of our civilization's destruction. This has to end, and I hope to contribute my share in this effort. What makes this call for change urgent is the type of students we have: inner city kids, products of broken homes with drug-crazed or single parents that pass on to their offspring the miserable lives they were dealt and against which they never fought back. Sure, there were a few in our community who succeeded out of sheer determination, or luck, but these were more the exception than the rule. I think it is time to turn this around. We have to bring back a sense of the sublime in the lives of our students and our teachers. Our nation was created out of a strong sense of these same values, and if we want to continue being great, we need to regain that sense. Resistance to Change What I am proposing is not merely incremental, step-by-step change, but something radical and transformational (Evans, 1996). I expect it to be controversial because this type of change is unpopular, uncomfortable, and requires doing something against what most people think is our human nature but in reality is not. Injecting a spiritual dimension into the change effort seems like a farfetched possibility, more so in a subject like math. I realized that my subject - Mathematics - is the perfect platform to begin teaching my students, their parents, and our teachers about ethics, justice and peace. One of the problems in society is the rejection of these two notions that have a tremendous impact on so many lives. Math can be a powerful instrument to remind young minds that these notions - ethics and justice, right and wrong - are important because they act like glue to keep our civilization together. One could imagine what happens (in fact we see it now) when people say there are no absolute norms that guide our notions of ethics and justice, that what is right and just depends purely on one's personal viewpoint and a request to respect each other's opinion. The result would be chaos, the opposite of peace. Apply this to math and the problems are tremendous: how can I get the exact change from the cashier, or how can people do business, or how can we agree on greater things if we cannot even agree that 1 + 1 = 2 A model of ethics and justice that is purely self-serving will get us nowhere. Change meets resistance for the same reasons, because it demands having to remove certain notions that we think is right despite countless evidences to the contrary. Change is difficult at the personal level and more so at the institutional, school, and higher levels that if one gets easily discouraged, change would be impossible (Evans, 1996). I expect to face resistance at all levels: personal, student, parents, colleagues, and government bureaucrats who may find my techniques too radical or idealistic. I have to contend with confusion, laziness, skepticism, and discouragement, all of which are forms of active and passive resistance that can come from anyone. I can minimize resistance by involving those who would be affected (Weick et al., 1999). As I make my plan of action, I would dialogue with the others and consider their concerns, include their inputs and ideas, make them part of the plan where possible, and get their commitment to support me. The most challenging, I know, is to motivate my students that what I am about to do is good for them, but I learned several techniques that would help, such as developing caring classrooms (Noddings, 1992) and deepening my connection with the spiritual yearnings of co-teachers and students (Kessler, 2000). Appealing to the heart and goodness found in each one is a breakthrough I need. Discovering the good in each one, rather than focusing on their criticisms and objections, would be the right direction to take in this change process. Benefits and Outcomes of Change Achieving my goal of teaching math and helping students have a deeper appreciation for math and make them aware of their spiritual yearnings would benefit many people. I would be a better math teacher, and my students would develop math skills and deepen their moral and ethical values. Their families would benefit because the students' good example and motivation. My co-teachers would learn too. Our school can be a center of excellence, in math and other subjects as well. TMBA is my legacy to the education of future students. Processes of Change As Palmer (1998) argued, the starting point of change is the integrity and identity of the teacher. Do I really want to do this and am I doing it for the right reasons My answer is yes, I want to do this, and the reasons for doing so are right: to improve education, to help my students become better persons, to help my colleagues do a better job, and to help the school and other students who are not my own to change their lives (Mechmann, 2000). I can succeed if I focus on the goal and get others to unfreeze, move, and refreeze as Lewin (1951) suggested. Enlightened by a deeper appreciation for ethics and justice, I now see success not as something measured by material wealth, fame, and power alone, but by how much we grow and mature as a person. Making incremental first-order changes would not be enough. If I fail to transform my students from within, many would never survive in the real world. Raised in dysfunctional homes, faced with temptations and challenges, lacking the motivation to succeed in the absence of role models to admire, and faced each day by hopelessness and fear of the future, many students are emotionally and intellectually handicapped. Not addressing this handicap is a reason for the absence of inner peace. They can benefit only from a second-order change, more radical in nature and systemic in impact (Evans, 1996). TMBA will not just to turn out math wizards lacking in social skills. It would turn out good persons who can use math to solve everyday problems, use their success as a motive to do well in other subjects, and transform their inner selves and aim higher in life so they make a personal decision to do better than their parents. In the process, they would find meaning and purpose in their lives and help others do the same. Just improving my teaching efficiency and effectiveness in what I do would not be enough. Justice demands that I give each of my students what is due, and as a teacher my starting point is doing well what I love doing: teaching math. Ethics means to do the right thing and to help others do what is right. Math, a precise science, is a good way to teach others about justice and ethics using the notions of exactness (in giving what is due and doing what is right) and the absolute (1 + 1 = 2 and 1 + 1 = 3 cannot be both right). However, in its precision lies a danger. I do not want to turn out heartless beasts lacking the flexibility to live in society. Just because a friend thinks 1+1=3 doesn't mean she stops being your friend. I want students to learn how to find joy in diversity and who find it a challenge to convince a friend, no matter how long it takes, to accept the right answer. Personnel Involved Like a stone thrown into a pond that creates concentric ripples that grow and reach every corner, my plan would evolve and develop over time. I would begin with myself, and then start getting the cooperation of other teachers in the school, starting with those who are my friends. In third place are the parents, and next the school's administration. If I can convince our Principal to make my experiences known to the other subject area teachers, we could draft a plan that would involve the whole school, district, and perhaps our whole State. Unless the support of our department heads, other school managers, and the staff is secured, change would be difficult or even impossible. Change would not happen overnight, but I hope to see some measurable results from these efforts in three years. Conclusion I am a teacher and am proud to be one. I not only form minds, but also hearts and souls. I have gained a deeper insight into the nature of my teaching vocation from this course and have learned to look beyond the numbers, programs, tests, and grades and decided to look closer - at myself, my students and colleagues, and into our hearts. I want to form persons using my love for teaching mathematics as my starting point. I have looked beyond test scores and the materialistic measures of success and realized that I need to make each student a better person who can survive in life, open to change and willing to be agents of change. My TMBA program would be my modest contribution to improve the quality of my teaching, the quality of education in our school, and the types of people we will turn out in society. In order to accomplish this, I would seek the cooperation of as many people as possible so that I can share with others what I have learned, get them to form caring classrooms, and to hopefully make my school a caring community. Reference List Evans, R. (1996). The human side of school change: Reform, resistance, and the real-life problems of innovations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Glatthorn, A. (1999). Performance standards & authentic teaching. New York: Eye on Education. Kessler, R. (2000). The soul of education: Helping students find connection, compassion, and character at school. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Lewin, K. (1951). Field theory in social science. New York: Harper Row. Mechmann, E.T. (2000). God, society and the human person: The basics of Catholic social teaching. Canfield, OH: Alba House. Noddings, N. (1992). The challenge to care in schools: An alternative approach to education. New York: Teachers College. Palmer, P.J. (1998). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher's life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Weick, K. E. and Quinn, R. E. (1999). Organisational change and development. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 361-86. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Transformation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1531054-transformation
(Transformation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words)
https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1531054-transformation.
“Transformation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1531054-transformation.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Teaching Math for a Better America

Educational Reform in America

The early education offered in america was mainly religious or private.... The main focus of the public school system was the establishment of a social order and the integration of the increasing number of children of the immigrant families into the setting of a common school in america.... To improve the quality of education in america as well as increase the tendency of the American students to acquire good grades in education, reforms are needed in the governmental policies as well as in the educational system....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

The Reading Crisis

Most of the focus on america's education problems is placed on the subjects of math and science as the country continues to fall behind other countries every year ("Broad Foundation Education ").... In a study entitled “Increasing Reading Skills in Rural Areas: An Analysis of Three School Districts,” it was determined that teachers need better training and support in order to efficiently teach reading curriculum and skills to their students.... The biggest reason has to do with teaching strategies....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

What led to US military action in the Vietnam

The path to the Vietnam War began long before the United States actually sent any troops into the foreign country, or became one of the most opposed wars in United States history.... Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia that shared (and still shares) a northern border with China,.... ... ... It was first conquered and subjugated by China in 111 BC, who introduced both politics and Confucianism to the country but left it rankled when it came to being occupied by foreign powers (Bureau of East Asian and Pacific China would continue to rule there for the next 1,000 years, until 939 AD when Vietnam would regain some measure of independence (Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs)....
9 Pages (2250 words) Research Paper

Why Other Countries out Rank the US Academically

Other nations know that america is a force to be revered and reckoned with.... america ranked poorly in the study, behind countries like India and Brazil.... The study showed that students going to school under unimaginably tough conditions in third-world countries like Costa Rica perform way better than American students (Bradshaw 111).... Due to the different educational requirements in different countries and curriculum variation, math and Science avail the only common basis for comparison between American students and students from other nations....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

Video Review of Muhammad

The paper "Video Review" discusses the video, in which there are three individuals' views on Muhammad, his teachings, and Islam as a whole, particularly focusing on what aspect of Islam appealed to them and how Muhammad's message influenced their way of life.... ... ... ... Also, as Muhammad's teachings state that even if an individual saves one life, it is like saving humanity, James was further influenced to join firefighting....
7 Pages (1750 words) Movie Review

An Examination of Motivation Among African American Males of Junior High School Age

For example, in america, most of the schools may have students from different parts of the world.... African Americans are huge in number in america and hence in many of the public and private schools may have a substantial amount of African American students.... america claims that they provide equal learning opportunities for all, however, the Black-White achievement gap still exists.... Black males are among the most likely students to take the least rigorous academic schedule and least likely to take advanced math or advanced science- all predictors of college....
10 Pages (2500 words) Research Paper

Impacts of Financial Crisis On American Education Industry

It is evidently clear from the discussion that Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators conducted a survey according to which schools in america are being urged to increase the class size and discard various important programs related to foreign language, art, music, technical education, career training, and advanced placement.... billion in state's biennial budget signify the largest reduction in educational expenditures in the history of america....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

Using Art and Music to Teach Math and Science

This growing fear has fostered the need for the invention of better and more interesting ways of teaching math and sciences compared to the conventional methods.... This is because the teachers have failed in identifying better ways of implementing innovative STEM instructions to the students than the current ones.... This paper "Using Art and Music to Teach math and Science" focuses on the fact that STEM is an emerging field in the education sector, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and math....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us