Dear Editor,
Unless the right persons are deployed in the various areas of the educational sphere, areas of critical importance will not achieve set targets in relation to national policies and implementations.
We have a significant problem in Jamaica with the teaching and learning of mathematics and several tools have been employed to remedy the situation. However, primary-trained educators ought to be assisting at the elementary level, not just secondary-trained personnel. It is of grave significance that policymakers and implementers avoid favouritism and nepotism in the deployment of experts in this crucial area.
Moreover, reference is being made to the plethora of secondary-trained personnel being deployed in primary schools across the length and breadth of the island as mathematics specialists, yet results in the subject are still stuttering below 60 per cent at the GSAT level, and just above 40 per cent at the CSEC level.
Secondary-based methodology in the teaching/learning of mathematics concepts and content does not necessarily work for every child at the primary level. Most of these specialists' approach to mathematics caters to "bright" students -- who only make up a small percentage of primary cohorts preparing for GSAT each year. The result is therefore that the majority of students, who are really struggling, are still being left behind.
Besides, specialists tend to focus more on the teaching of content than on the learning of concepts. There are qualified and competent individuals within the elementary setting of the education system who are willing to dispense of their expertise in the field of mathematics teaching/learning, yet they are being ignored and their competence is left dormant.
There is an urgent need for the application of conceptual understanding, deductive reasoning and problem-solving in the execution of mathematics skills/strategies in the methods being employed by these specialists.
Primary level-trained educators are deemed best suited to deliver quality teaching/learning techniques in mathematics education at the primary level. In essence, primary-trained individuals with aptitude in mathematics have the paedological know-how at this level. Consequently, it is highway robbery for parents to have to fork out thousands of dollars to obtain private assistance for their children in the preparation of mathematics at the GSAT and CSEC levels, even though they are being sent to public institutions to acquire an education. Even so, these students, after sitting such exams, are for the most part unable to make the transition to the next level of their education journey.
As educators, we need to get off our high horses and do what is best for getting our nations education on par to that of a Singapore, and beyond. Hence, mathematics teaching and learning must be delivered from a conceptual, reasoning and/or problem-solving approach to effectively guide each learner's thinking and understanding of the concepts -- not just content -- from one level to the next.
In concluding, this particularly critical approach to nation-building ought to mirror how students learn in classrooms everywhere.
Laje Moore
hmoorefrenzy@yahoo.com
Deployment of math experts flawed
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Unless the right persons are deployed in the various areas of the educational sphere, areas of critical importance will not achieve set targets in relation to national policies and implementations.
We have a significant problem in Jamaica with the teaching and learning of mathematics and several tools have been employed to remedy the situation. However, primary-trained educators ought to be assisting at the elementary level, not just secondary-trained personnel. It is of grave significance that policymakers and implementers avoid favouritism and nepotism in the deployment of experts in this crucial area.
Moreover, reference is being made to the plethora of secondary-trained personnel being deployed in primary schools across the length and breadth of the island as mathematics specialists, yet results in the subject are still stuttering below 60 per cent at the GSAT level, and just above 40 per cent at the CSEC level.
Secondary-based methodology in the teaching/learning of mathematics concepts and content does not necessarily work for every child at the primary level. Most of these specialists' approach to mathematics caters to "bright" students -- who only make up a small percentage of primary cohorts preparing for GSAT each year. The result is therefore that the majority of students, who are really struggling, are still being left behind.
Besides, specialists tend to focus more on the teaching of content than on the learning of concepts. There are qualified and competent individuals within the elementary setting of the education system who are willing to dispense of their expertise in the field of mathematics teaching/learning, yet they are being ignored and their competence is left dormant.
There is an urgent need for the application of conceptual understanding, deductive reasoning and problem-solving in the execution of mathematics skills/strategies in the methods being employed by these specialists.
Primary level-trained educators are deemed best suited to deliver quality teaching/learning techniques in mathematics education at the primary level. In essence, primary-trained individuals with aptitude in mathematics have the paedological know-how at this level. Consequently, it is highway robbery for parents to have to fork out thousands of dollars to obtain private assistance for their children in the preparation of mathematics at the GSAT and CSEC levels, even though they are being sent to public institutions to acquire an education. Even so, these students, after sitting such exams, are for the most part unable to make the transition to the next level of their education journey.
As educators, we need to get off our high horses and do what is best for getting our nations education on par to that of a Singapore, and beyond. Hence, mathematics teaching and learning must be delivered from a conceptual, reasoning and/or problem-solving approach to effectively guide each learner's thinking and understanding of the concepts -- not just content -- from one level to the next.
In concluding, this particularly critical approach to nation-building ought to mirror how students learn in classrooms everywhere.
Laje Moore
hmoorefrenzy@yahoo.com
Deployment of math experts flawed
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