Mathematical Education Teacher at Stanford University (USA), Yes Boaler came to Brazil recently at the invitation of the Sidarta Institute to talk about his teaching approach “mathematical mentalities”. The methodology aims to make the discipline possible and palatable for anyone, making teaching more creative and democratic.
She took advantage of the visit to promote her Book “Mathematics” and, between one event and another, answered some questions from the CNN. Check it out:
In Brazil, very few students conclude Basic Education with good knowledge of mathematics. What is the role of the state and school to reverse this scenario?
which presupposes an innate ability early on. We have decades of research in neuroscience showing that this makes no sense. With the right approach to teaching, transmitting messages about mindset and respecting that of each student, anyone can learn mathematics at a high level. We need to stimulate a growth mindset, in which errors are seen as learning opportunities and not as problems.
Should the teaching of mathematics be modernized?
Schools should teach mathematics more creatively and diverse,UNTED TO DAIL LIFE. In many countries, established curricula remain exactly the same as one hundred years agoAlthough mathematics in the world has changed dramatically. We need and modernize the mathematics that is taught. And removing what is no longer useful would help a lot and allow teachers to deepen the most important ideas.
Many children and pre-teens who like math and take good grades end up hating discipline and facing difficulties in high school. Why does this happen?
I’m not sure how mathematics is taught in high schools in Brazil, but in the United States, and in other countries, As you advance in the grades, classes become increasingly proceduralwith students just repeating methods shown by the teachers. When you are a teenager and form your identity, there is a desire to use your own ideas, be heard, feel a complete person. Demand that students only feel, listen and reproduce what is shownwithout autonomy or independent thinking, often makes them lose interest in mathematics. THE Lack of connection with real life It also makes discipline uninteresting and disconnected from its experiences.
How to make mathematics learning more fun and thought -provoking?
For mathematics to be pleasurable and engaging, it needs to be one that means going beyond calculations and the design and exploration of different ways of thinking. Invite students to reason about mathematical ideas and value the different ways they think about these ideas transforms discipline for them. Mathematics must be linked to everyday life, as in data science, to demonstrate its relevance. When students feel comfortable facing challenges and making mistakes, when their different ideas are valued, learning becomes deeper, meaningful and, of course, more pleasurable and stimulating.
