More Math Woes

“Memorization is not intended for this level” is a phrase which appears frequently in today’s math curriculum.  Given current headlines and global events, it may not be sexy, or even relevant to Canadian politicians, but it should be.  Knowledge is the basis for any well-formed argument, and memorization is the first step in making knowledge possible.  Knowledge is also the foundation to why changes, and reform “should” be made when our publicly elected officials decide to update old policy and legislation.  What this phrase has done though, is cancel any basis of knowledge or mastery, and it might be the fundamental reason why our kids are falling so far behind their peers in their schoolwork, and are unable to find meaningful work upon graduation. 

With everything going on in the world, it’s easy for basic education policy to be missed with all the grown ups talking above it all.  Luckily for our kids, some refuse to be silenced on this issue.  Dr. Anna Stokke is a math professor who’s been raising alarm bells on this abysmal situation for over 15 years.  She’s written tirelessly on the subject of weak math education in Canadian schools and has seen it firsthand in her classroom at the University of Winnipeg. Her podcast “Chalk & Talk” is a huge hit with teachers and parents, and she doesn’t mince words on her latest research paper that analyzes math education across Canada.  From the report, “Stokke recommends engaging experts in the science of learning to ensure instruction is aligned with high-quality research evidence, including prioritizing explicit, teacher-led instruction over inquiry or discovery-based approaches. 

“For too long, teachers have been told that inquiry-based instruction works best in math,” said Stokke. “That claim is not supported by high-quality research. Explicit, teacher-led instruction is most effective, especially for novice learners and students with math difficulties,” said Stokke.

She singles out British Columbia as having one of the worst math curricula in Canada, and our student achievement reflects that.

The usual excuses are routinely trotted out whenever truthisms hit the press, with politicians and administrators paying lip service about how well our schools are doing. But they’re lying.  According to the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA), British Columbia students had the biggest math decline between 2016 and 2022, when curricular reforms were implemented.   This is the lowest performance recorded in this province since our students’ participation began almost 30 years ago.  PISA may not be the only indicator for student achievement, but every other legitimate measurement utilized in this province has recorded similarly declining achievement…despite the system receiving record levels of spending, increased professional development AND smaller class sizes.

So back to, “Memorization is not intended for at this level”.   Along with that phrase appearing throughout the math curriculum, what it also left also left out at the elementary level is the directive for adding and subtracting fractions, daily practices and quizzes, and memorization of times tables.  All of these are crucial building blocks for learning BASIC arithmetic, and once these directives are removed, students flounder their way through a multitude of outrageous learning methods which confuse them even further. 

The general public became apoplectic when they learned recently how secret deals Premier Eby and his governing New Democratic Party made with various First Nation groups behind closed doors, deals that avoided scrutiny and debate in the Legislative Assembly.  But in education, the second highest expenditure in the province, it’s even more secretive.  Under Gordon Campbell’s regime 25 years ago, the ruling party at the time wanted to avoid disagreement and debate while introducing educational reforms based on the latest and greatest learning fads.  Senior officials at  even bragged about keeping the discussion above the fray, quietly bringing in Legislation ensuring that any curricular changes – something that affects over half a million children and tens of thousands of teachers – could be made behind closed doors via a Ministerial Order.  We are the only province to have done that.  It’s absolutely outrageous how something so harmful, to so many generations of kids and teachers, could go completely unchallenged by our Legislators, and the media was only too complicit by staying silent on this issue. 

So a decade later, our kids have been completely taken out of the competitive marketplace both nationally and on the Global stage…all because of that simple phrase.  This is merely the tip of the iceberg, yet those making profits both at the school level and higher up, would prefer the media, and the general public to stay silent, and continue with their closed-door meetings and deals. We get rightfully upset when we hear about how one child is made sicker by having a wrong medication administered, but stay mute when over half a million children are denied the opportunity to learn basic arithmetic, a crucial part of any meaningful education. 

The finger pointing and hand wringing needs to end.  Parents need to act, and leaders need to react. The only way forward is by creating alternatives in our public system, something that is sorely overdue.  There are many successful options to emulate, both in terms of school choice and curricula.  Singapore has a highly successful math curriculum, and the newly formed knowledge-based curriculum in England is already showing vast improvement in their schools. 

End these closed-door sessions now. Reintroduce legislation where thoughtful, evidence-based policy can be rigorously discussed in the Legislature where it belongs – to the people.   But most importantly, end this phrase in our curriculum, “Memorization is not intended for this level”, so that the real learning can begin once again.