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Maths?

TheCatWoman

Are we Brits genetically bad at maths, poorly taught or what? It seems so many of us ND and NT really struggle with it and have done for years, so much so that it almost seems to be a point of national pride that we're collectively so bad at it.

All I know is that I'm terrible at it and couldn't pass a GCSE grade 3, even with special tutoring, it meant I failed my access course, luckily it didn't stop me going to uni because I didn't need maths for history. What makes it even worse is I seem unable to use a calculator either, I can put the same numbers in 3 times and get 3 different answers.

Parents

  • I think school method of teaching - inspires a few likewise puts off learning for a similar number and others get by

    Maths & Science seemed my go to subjects in secondary school in the 80s. But school didn't inspire me, although I had one teacher who taught Geometric & Engineering Drawing (old fashioned as it was then on drawing board - aka drafting table) .  I think that just latched into my visual thinking and so I left at 16  and got an apprentice job in an engineers office, and studied part-time whilst working and switched to a full-time Masters Degree.  

    But that was me and my spiky profile which meant english, arts, languages I found difficult, or as school put it on all my reports for 5 years "lacks effort","lacks concentration/focus","easily distracted", or that my attitude of excelling at certain subjects early on was "narrow minded" - gosh would teachers (form tutor, head of year and headmaster) write this stuff now or think  what's going on ?  I don't know

    We should try to show useful maths -  where you can use it in life, like budgets/finances, running a business or understanding business, there's a million more reasons I expect.  And show that learning is life-long

    Sorry for the ramble.

  • in reply to Jalapeno
    Jalapeno said:
    We should try to show useful maths -  where you can use it in life, like budgets/finances

    Real world examples are used in teaching now. I agree that maths has to be perceived as relevant to students to engage them - of course, and that's why real world examples are included. 

    I think they are better than when I was at school (20 years ago),  which is probably just as well!

    There's also Functional Maths, a qualification that can be equivalent to a GCSE pass and just covers the maths you might use in everyday life. 

Reply
  • in reply to Jalapeno
    Jalapeno said:
    We should try to show useful maths -  where you can use it in life, like budgets/finances

    Real world examples are used in teaching now. I agree that maths has to be perceived as relevant to students to engage them - of course, and that's why real world examples are included. 

    I think they are better than when I was at school (20 years ago),  which is probably just as well!

    There's also Functional Maths, a qualification that can be equivalent to a GCSE pass and just covers the maths you might use in everyday life. 

Children