Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Because it seems to me that relatively few people leave school with a love of mathematics, and carry on studying the subject for pleasure, and yet it's rare to see remarks that this indicates that maths teaching is failing. For some reason, though, many more people seem to believe that a goal of English Lit teaching should be to instil a love of reading, rather than simply a knowledge of English literature. I find it a slightly curious dichotomy.
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Perhaps because an understanding of mathematics is unquestionably useful in later life, whether or not you like it, whereas knowing a few Shakespeare quotes is of debatable value if the process has put you off reading more widely.
Having said that, I do think it is a shame that more kids don't come out of school with more enjoyment of maths. That's not solely the fault of the way it's taught, however - at least here in the UK there's a widespread feeling (in some circles) that while not knowing the aforementioned Shakespeare quotes bars you from a claim to be educated, "I can't do maths" is somehow a badge of honour and is no such bar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Not at all. The purpose of teaching literature is to instil in children at least a portion of our cultural heritage.
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If that was really the case wouldn't a wider cultural exposure be achieved by covering a wider range of books with a bit less depth, rather than micro-analysing three or four?
/JB