After reading this article, I feel the ideas still fresh to the current teaching situations, and I don't believe it was written 30 years ago. As a candidate teacher, I agree with the point that teachers' goals and priorities do making teachers different in terms of what they teach and how they teach. To be a reflective teacher is essential for teaching and the most important factors are openmindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness. I believe it was true 30 years ago, is true in the present, will be true 30 years later even further. In this article mentioned about teaching without reflection hit me. I think, in reality, many educators are still unreflective about their teaching, especially teaching mathematics. It is easy for teachers to make the class a routine of doing worksheets, solving exercise problems, and training students just like training them in a mathematical problem-solving factory. In results, the students get out of class knowing how to do the math problems but don't know why they do it. I can also define it as dead math.
I think the class setting is different from 30 years ago and is more diverse in terms of cultures because of the increasing numbers of immigrants. There are more teaching tools are helping teachers to be reflective. I believe reflective teaching is desirable; however, in reality, to break the trend of non-reflective, make it possible for our whole school systems still need time. It still needs more contribution to this revitalization and renewal may be from teachers and us as candidate teachers.
Wow, the term 'dead math' is very powerful! It speaks to a purely instrumental way of teaching, with little regard for questions of why (and not just how) to solve problems. The idea of a problem-solving factory is also very evocative. I am looking forward to seeing how you develop these ideas throughout this teacher education year and beyond!
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