Anna Stokke:

Letter in today’s Winnipeg Free Press from @umanitoba prof Darja Barr. “The MB govt’s decision to eliminate all subject-area requirements for pre-service teachers is a big miss — from misinterpreted research, to misrepresented contexts, misguided policy and a misled public.”

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A big math mistake

Re: Walking in the right direction on math (Think Tank, Nov. 25); Mathematics education of Manitoba teachers should be based on research (Think Tank, Nov.

13)

I am deeply troubled by the policy changes to teacher content requirements made recently, and what has been written about these changes in the press.

In recent opinion pieces, both Martha Koch and Thomas Falkenberg describe teacher candidates as being “forced” to take “university-level” math courses, and they claim research supports the elimination of teacher content requirements.

Not only do I take issue with making such sweeping generalizations and public policy changes from the research they cite but, more importantly, they present a misleading situation.

Since the six-credit-hour subject requirements were introduced, math departments across the province carefully developed math content courses specifically for K-8 teachers, which cover content such as triangle properties, areas and volumes, and other topics that relate directly to K-8 math classrooms. I have yet to see these courses mentioned in articles by my colleagues in education, though they are there to build exactly the type of

“mathematical knowledge for teaching” that their cited research strongly supports and have been taken successfully by hundreds of their students.

It is not unusual for math departments to develop and teach courses tailored for students for other faculties — we have specialized courses for engineering, business, arts, nursing, social work and education.

As to whether I am qualified to speak on this issue, I hold post-graduate degrees in mathematics and in education — including a PhD in math education – and received numerous teaching and outreach awards.

Thave taught math to thousands of students at University of Manitoba for almost 20 years. I have taught courses for both the mathematics department and the faculty of education. I work extensively with K-12 math teachers and I see firsthand on a daily basis in my classrooms the challenges we face in addressing a provincial math crisis.

Many students struggle with basic math, have negative attitudes about math or suffer from math anxiety. The most effective way to reduce math anxiety and foster positive attitudes about math — for both teachers and students

— is to increase teachers’ math knowledge for teaching, which is what our courses were designed to do.

The Manitoba government’s decision to eliminate all subject-area requirements for pre-service teachers is a big miss – from misinterpreted research, to misrepresented contexts, misguided policy and a misled public.

As someone who teaches hundreds of math students every year and as a mother to two small children about to enter our public school system, I believe it is a serious mistake and the consequences could be disastrous for Manitoba. I urge everyone to make their voices heard on this important and impactful issue.

Darja Barr

Winnipeg