Goes back a long way, c.f. C. P. Snow and the Two Cultures book or article in the 50s. Before that Charles Babbage had something to say about the state and teaching of mathematics in British universities.
My personal view is that there has to be a wider discussion on what 16 to 18 education is actually for in the UK, or at least England and Wales (Scotland has a different system, not sure about the Province).
To what extent do we have specialised often vocational courses for students? Do GCSE exams at age 16 still actually have a function?
Then you can have a discussion about the role of quantitative and logical thought in whatever system you decide to have.
PS: I'd keep mathematicians at least 50 miles away from any committee working on this. Nice people, but a tiny minority of the communities of practice who use mathematics to make decisions.
"They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool. 'Til you're so fucking crazy, you can't follow their rules." - John Lennon - Working Class Hero
Private schools feed into the top universities because the private schools provide actual education. The problem isnt that private schools are too good or that private schools educated people get better grades.
The problem is that the majority of pupils in state schools, be they intelligent or not intelligent never stand a chance and are recieving a terrible formal education.
2b3a51|2 years ago
My personal view is that there has to be a wider discussion on what 16 to 18 education is actually for in the UK, or at least England and Wales (Scotland has a different system, not sure about the Province).
To what extent do we have specialised often vocational courses for students? Do GCSE exams at age 16 still actually have a function?
Then you can have a discussion about the role of quantitative and logical thought in whatever system you decide to have.
PS: I'd keep mathematicians at least 50 miles away from any committee working on this. Nice people, but a tiny minority of the communities of practice who use mathematics to make decisions.
ben_w|2 years ago
I ask because "The Two Cultures" was 1959: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Cultures
Even where people recognise the value of maths, some of the responses I've seen to this use rhetoric-disguised-as-maths such as this: https://nitter.net/Samfr/status/1647717775777972224
discreteevent|2 years ago
ta1243|2 years ago
tonyedgecombe|2 years ago
blitzar|2 years ago
The problem is that the majority of pupils in state schools, be they intelligent or not intelligent never stand a chance and are recieving a terrible formal education.
EntrePrescott|2 years ago