Committee of ten
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A brief description of how (and why) the white men in power in the late 19th century laid out math curriculum that we've been tweaking ever since. Also, a few notes on a potential new way to view the role of mathematics discourse in a cultural context.
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Committee of ten
- 1. What about those 120 years of US education before 1893? When studying the history of Mathematics Curriculum in the US, the starting point is often the 1893 report by the With a word about Knowledge at the Crossroads and where we are today. Committee of Ten
- 2. CCSS puts us at crossroads right now Committee of Ten represents past crossroads Written in 1993, gives clue of crossroads 20 years ago Knowledge at the Crossroads Given as starting point, wanted to investigate circumstances behind it Credited with outlining current high school math curriculum Curious about what influenced Committee’s recommendations Committee of Ten Rationale of Choices
- 3. Knowledge at the Crossroadswritten by David Wheeler Wheeler was active educator and teacher educator in England, Canada, and US Wheeler interested in how history of math contributes to learning math Article is review of volume by Michel Serres Michel Serres-French historian of science and math; philosopher Committee of Ten National Council of Education 1891, Commissioner W. Harris One central Committee of Ten, and nine sub-committees with about ten members; Chair: Charles Eliot Committee for Math: Simon Newcomb William Byerly Arthur Cutler Florian Cajori Henry Fine W.A. Greeson Andrew Ingraham George Olds James Patterson T. H. S. Afford Summaries
- 4. Research biographical info on authors and subjects (in the case of Michel Serres) Of the ten math Committee members, 6 were university professors Serres’ philosophy based on connectedness of all disciplines; in one interview he says it is dangerous to separate humanities and sciences Research historical context David Tyack’s The One Best Systemfrom 1974 particularly helpful James Anderson’s Education of Blacks in the South The Emergence of the American Mathematical Research Community 1876 –1900by Karen H. Parshalland David E. Rowe Read primary documents related to Committee of Ten James Baker’s 1895 Review of the Report of the Committee of Ten Obituaries Documents that members created before and after 1893 Make connections Strategies for Investigation
- 5. Economic Variables Emancipation of slaves = no more free labor Immigrants continue to come Shift to industrial/urban-based economy Social/Cultural Variables “In the United States there is a general uniformity of tradition, of government, of civilization, and the educated youth of San Francisco bears about the same relation to the world as the educated youth of Boston” James Baker, 1895 Colleges and Universities “Set in the larger frame of attendance, both voluntary and coerced, the story of compulsion tells much about the ‘misfit’ groups that were mostly located at the bottom of the social structure and how they were perceived by those at the top.” Tyack, 1974 The Eternal Question: What is the purpose of schools? And how is that affected by context?
- 6. Demand for Education Different for rural whites, immigrants, and [southern] blacks Colleges and universities efforts to keep up with European institutions Highly represented on the Committee of Ten Politics of education and labor Flavor of Reform Largely condescending Some of the Factors Leading to Committee of Ten’s recommendations
- 7. Former Slaves, Immigrants, Poor people Teachers/Educators Politicians Philanthropists Labor Unions Colleges/Universities Employers Who had a stake in universal (compulsory) schooling? Second half of 19thCentury… **Graph represents relative power, not actual numbers or measurements of any kind**
- 8. ‘…great stress laid upon accuracy of statement and elegance of form… as well as on clear and rigorous reasoning.’ ‘…more highly trained teachers are needed, especially for subjects that are receiving increased attention’ ‘…the function of the high schools should be to prepare for the duties of life as well college.’ ‘…rules should be derived inductively instead of being stated dogmatically.’ ‘…will help students gain strong foundations, including a solid understanding of concepts, a high degree of procedural skill and fluency…’ ‘Mathematics is…a coherent body of knowledge…’ 1893 or 2013?
- 9. Wheeler and Serres(and Gattegnoand Bachelard) have outside perspective to [US] education Newcomb, Eliot, Baker, Cajoriet al felt pressure to establish US prowess in math research Complexity and the nature of things Committee of Ten attempted to streamline and clarify math curriculum, implementation resulted in atomization of subjects Education desired and education offered rarely align for groups at bottom of power structure Cultural value of mathematics “[Serres] contributes to our understanding of what it means to claim that mathematics is not only a rigorous science but also a special form of discourse…he makes mathematics more obviously a partner among cultural equals and an independent intellectual domain.” Wheeler, 1993 Bringing it Back Around to Knowledge at the Crossroads