Slow Down!!!

The Epidemic of Speed in Math Education

SLOW DOWN!!!: THE EPIDEMIC OF SPEED IN MATH EDUCATION AND HOW IT'S SQUASHING THE DREAMS OF POTENTIAL MATHEMATICIANS

Internet speed? Fast is essential!

Track meet? Fast is awesome!

Commute to work? Fast is epic!

Mathematical thinking?

Mathematical instruction?

Is fast good in these areas?

Traditionally in math education, the actions and policies of educators have communicated to students the idea that speed is critically important. From a young age, grade school students are made to take timed tests (often called Mad Minutes) over and over as a way to learn math facts. Students are routinely expected to master math concepts on the first go-around: no retests and no revisiting concepts once the chapter is over. Teachers are forced to rush through the curriculum so that every standard is covered. In this environment of rush, rush, rush, it feels like breathing is an optional activity for math students and teachers.

In fact, on many fronts, the emphasis on speed in math has actually done more harm than good. Large segments of the math-learning population (particularly women and minorities) stop pursuing mathematics (and thus STEM fields) because the fast pace of instruction is overwhelmingly intimidating and most often ineffective. Many young people come to think that they don’t have a “math brain” and feel terribly about their own capacity to learn just because they can’t keep up with the teacher or their classmates.

Through their practices, teachers have conveyed the message to students and families that speed in math is supremely important. Research has shown otherwise. Students often regard their speedier classmates as “smart in math” because they have a “math brain.” Studies have disproven the idea that having a “math brain” is a genetic trait. We all have the capacity to learn math. When time is used as a constraining condition to that learning, students are often discouraged and give up.

If I were to teach someone to ride a bike, catch a ball, or swim for the first time, it would be completely unreasonable for me to expect that the person have the skill mastered in an hour (or one class period). There's a learning curve involved in learning anything. Though some prefer to think of it as a “forgetting curve” for learning new information.

I’m not saying that we should allot an indefinite amount of time for learning (though ideally we should allot an indefinite amount of time if mastery is truly the desired outcome). After all, we are in a school setting where we only have a 180 day time window of learning. However, an optimal environment for learning should include a reasonable time for learning that is free of judgment and free of pressure… Our textbook publisher, College Preparatory Mathematics, calls the concept “mastery over time” and it is one of their (and our) core beliefs.

Furthermore, some of the world’s foremost mathematicians are self-described as slow thinkers. Slow deep thinking should actually be the emphasis in math education rather than speed and rushing. As a teacher who has graded thousands upon thousands of math tests, I can attest to the fact that students who take their time to be thoughtful and thorough with their thinking almost always produce better work than the ones who rush through the process.

I think it’s a sad state of affairs when the educational community penalizes, frowns upon, stigmatizes, and excludes those who take more time to absorb, learn, figure out, and calculate. I may be slightly biased, but I think that math is an exciting field that all students should have an opportunity to experience, enjoy, and pursue as far as they want to. I believe that we, the educational community, can take a step towards empowering all students to enjoy and pursue math when we put down our stopwatches and give students time to stop and think through mathematical concepts.

How do I start to make changes? First off, I believe that teachers must migrate from being so grade focused to being more learning focused. As a teacher, I need to ask myself if whether my primary goal is to give every student the grade they “deserve” or if my focus is to facilitate the learning that every student deserves. If my goal is learning for all students, then I cannot judge differently the student who shows mastery of a concept on the day of the initial test as opposed to the student who comes to mastery two weeks or two months later during a retest. There should be no difference if my ultimate goal is that every student learns.

As parents, I encourage you to support your student’s learning in a similar way. Give them time and space to work. Ratchet down the pressure on them. Take away the stigma that society often places on those who aren’t speedy in learning, who don’t conform to a “standard” learning schedule. In the long run, this approach will best support a student’s growth as a learner and their self-esteem as well. Hard work, patience, time, learning from mistakes, perseverance… These are all keys to successful learning and they all take time. We need to give time for learners to learn.

In the article “The Way We Teach Math Is Holding Women Back,” Stanford professor Jo Boaler investigates the societal problem of speed in mathematics education.

Here's an Ignite talk by Annie Fetter called "The Hurrier I Go, The Behinder I Get."

* In an “Ignite Talk,” presenters get 20 slides, which automatically advance every 15 seconds. The result is a fast and fun presentation that lasts just 5 minutes.

Here's another Ignite talk by Henri Picciotto called "Time Pressure: Bad for Students, Bad for Teachers." It gives some great ideas on how teachers can "slow down" so they can teach more efficiently.

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