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Response Paper #3

CT709 Fall 2015

Michael Medeiros

Kansas University
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Throughout history, education has changed to suit the needs of society. Franklin

Bobbitt explains how we are passing on the knowledge of the previous generation and

adding items to raise the level of knowledge so progress is made with each passing

generation. (16) John Dewey said, All education proceeds by the participation of the

individual in the social consciousness of the race. (33) Dewey means we are teaching

children to be members of society and should create curriculum toward that end. John

Tyler discusses that curriculum follows the needs of the society in which learners will

live as adults. (62) We are educating our students to fill the needs of society. As we move

further into the 21st Century, a reexamining of our values and needs must occur to be

sure the education received by todays students prepares them for the ever and

increasingly changing world we occupy. William Doll offers such an update in his essay

on the four Rs. Replacing the antiquated model of the three Rs: Reading, Ritin, and

Rithmetic, Doll suggests Richness, Recursion, Relations, and Rigor. (216) In this essay

I will explore Dolls four Rs and explain how they are useful in shaping the curriculum

necessary for students to survive and thrive in our era.

A small disclaimer before we begin: I am a teacher of high school mathematics

and will be using this viewpoint as a starting point for examples and explanations. Doll

explains richness as, A curriculums depth, to its layered meaning, to its multiple

possibilities and interpretations. (216) I had a near mutiny in a junior level Algebra II

class last week because the lesson I gave the students included more information than

the students needed to complete the assignment. We were learning how to graph

Absolute Value equations. I started by using prior knowledge of solving equations to

explore with the class how things are different with Absolute Values. We then, as a

group, made minor changes to the equation to see how the V shape moves around the
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coordinate plane when different values are put into the equation. Then I showed the

class some quick and easy shortcuts to help them along. This is when many students

expressed disgust that I did not just show them the shortcuts in the beginning. I tried

then to communicate that math is not just formulas that we plug into. My hope was that

by using an exploration of the topic that students would be getting the Richness of

instruction that Doll was referring to. Those that put in the effort to learn with me will

now, hopefully, go on to apply that skill to future math topics when they do not have a

full understanding.

Recursion, per Doll, Aims at developing competence the ability to organize,

combine, inquire, use something heuristically (i.e. encouraging discovery, learning

through failure). (218) Doll explains this is not repetition such as learning our

multiplication tables. Recursion is making connections where we did not see any before.

I used this is in my classroom last year while trying to create my curriculum; I decided I

did not care for the order in which the textbook was arranged; the topics were too

compartmentalized. Often, it is said that math builds. This is comparable to a wall where

each topic is a brick. I think of mathematics more of a web where each topic leads to

another and sometimes back to itself. As I decided which topics to pair with others, I did

not hide from my students what I was doing. I explained to them that we were working

in this order because certain topics are connected. As we learned each lesson I would tie

it to each previous lesson to show the web of interconnectedness.

Two things from Dolls writing on Relations cause to me to pause and reflect on

how they are useful in my classroom. One is his statement on where curriculum comes

from in a post-modern world, Curriculum in a post-modern frame needs to be created

by the classroom committee, not by textbook authors. (219) Doll means that the class
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should decide where the class goes, as opposed to some author who will never enter that

classroom. This is challenging to do in a math setting since there are a set number of

topics we need to cover. One way to engage the class in choosing curriculum is to build

in days to the schedule for classroom discussion about the class itself. If you can get the

student to do some Meta thinking about their own learning, we may see they that can

guide us to where they need to be. I often have off-topic conversations with my classes

that are still in the realm of mathematics. We talk about space travel, buying a car, and

applying to college. By allowing the students to choose the topic of conversation, I can

weave some math teaching into the conversation they have chosen. If they want to talk

about cars, we can talk about loans, interest rates, number of payments until pay-off,

insurance, etc.

The other point of reflection from Doll on Relations concerns his citation of

Whitehead who implores to not teach too many subjects but to Teach thoroughly.

(219) I love to skip sections of the book. I have found that when you bog students down

with a lot of mathy theorems and definitions, you tend to lose them. As a young math

learner, I would trudge through definitions and theorems and proofs while waiting for

the teacher to get to the examples which is when I really learned the topic. I like, as a

teacher, to start with the examples and work back to the definitions and theorems. It

would be like if I were teaching my class to build a car, so I started teaching them about

fuel-to-air ratios and oil viscosity but never showed them that in the end we are building

a machine that can transport people from place to place. We need to show students how

things work in order to define these things, not the other way around. One advantage to

this approach is sometimes the classes show such a deep understanding without the

definitions that we can set the definition aside and explore deeper into the concept. My
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students may also in these times show proficiency for a topic we may have needed to

cover later so I can now skip these sections to explore even deeper into topics.

Finally, Doll discussed Rigor. He defines rigor as, purposely looking for different

alternatives, relations, connections. (221) Often, a student will say, My math teacher

last year did this or that in a such and such kind of way. Can I do it his way instead? I

tell him that as a math teacher, I should know many ways to solve the same problem. As

a math learner, you only have to know one. If the method some former teacher taught

you works, and it works consistently, then by all means use it. My way is not better just

because it is different. There are a few math tricks that I have developed on my own and

I show these to students as enrichment. They will sometimes ask if they can use their

own methods if they discover a new way. I tell them they certainly can if they are willing

to put the time in to develop that method. I have sometimes demonstrated how I came

up a certain math trick. It involves releasing yourself to the numbers and let them take

you where they want to go. Make new connections, do not be afraid to be wrong, and do

not be afraid of dead ends. When we find something that does not work, we have

learned something new. When we find something that does work, we have made a new

connection. I have a lesson where I have students write down the numbers 1-100. Some

of the students I ask to add these numbers up. Other groups, I have them circle the

perfect squares. I ask them to look at the numbers and find something new. A new

insight, a new connection. Teach yourself something you did not know before. Many

times, if the students genuinely accept the challenge, they come up with new insights

and a newfound sense of confidence as well. Mathematics is not a hidden mystery, but a

magical thing we can all hold.

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After reading Dolls four Rs, and reflecting on how they fit into my classroom, I

have gained new insights as well. By exploring how I teach and knowing that certain

things can be put in to achieve desired results, I have added a richness to my classroom.

Sometimes all the planning in the world cannot prepare you for how the day will go.

Sometimes we fail, but we learn from every failure and this is where recursion comes

into play. I try to have my students be willing to join my team so we can all win. Working

together almost certainly has better results than working against each other. These

relations we build are what makes the entire thing work. If I do not work hard, if I do

not think about why I do what I do, if I do not approach my job with rigor then how can

I expect the same from my students? We are teaching the future citizens of the world

and while reading, ritin, and rithmetic were fine at a time in history, we need a new

paradigm for the future and Dolls four Rs do very nicely.

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References

Flinders, D, (2013). The curriculum studies reader (4th ed). New York: Routledge.