Abstract
WITH the re-classification of secondary schools in Great Britain under the new Education Act, there is an urgent need for the complete overhaul of the curricula of these schools. This is especially true in the case of mathematics, evidence of which is to be found in the recent reports on school certificate mathematics (Conf. Exam. Bodies and Teachers' Associations, 1944); on the teaching of mathematics to physicists (Mathematical Association and the Institute of Physics, 1944); and on sixth form examinations in mathematics (Cambridge Joint Advisory Committee for Mathematics, 1945). In suggesting an alternative syllabus to those in operation at present, the first-named report makes the significant remark: "The whole syllabus is inspired by a desire to bring mathematics more closely in relation with the life and experience of the pupil". Herein lies the kernel of the question, and it is symptomatic of the dissatisfaction felt at the existing courses, which are largely dominated by the syllabuses of the examining authorities. With approximately four-fifths of the pupils now leaving secondary schools at school certificate level, the huge gap between examination mathematics and the essential needs of after-school life calls for some fundamental change. The need for a fresh approach to the mathematical curriculum has been ably dealt with by Mr. C. T. Lear Caton in his presidential address to the Midland Branch of the Mathematical Association (Math. Gaz., July 1945), and his advocacy "to replan the mathematics courses in all types of schools to fit in with the new educational structure and to contribute more effectively to the needs of the post-war world" sums up very concisely the case for immediate reform.
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A New Approach to School Mathematics. Nature 156, 330 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/156330a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/156330a0