Battleground Schools

At the beginning of the article, the contrast between the two polarizing views of mathematics really caught my eye. Politics is an aspect of life that really envelops a lot of society, and many people feel passionate about their viewpoint over another. Here it is highlighted as such, even in more (or so I would've assumed) apolitical topics such as mathematics. It just goes to show that people will always have different viewpoints, and debates will always be had when it comes to education and the most effective method of instruction.

The second part that resonated with me was when the article talked about math being for 'nerds'. Throughout my post-secondary education, when talking to people outside of a school context, the topic of my studies would come up. I would tell them the courses I was enrolled in, and they would always reply to me that I must be really 'smart' for taking all of these math classes. I always thought, why is it that math out of all the core subjects is seen as for 'intellectuals'? Does this say something about the way our society views mathematics? I can't really say for sure if I am as smart as people believe I am, I just happened to click well with mathematics and less so for the other core subjects taught in the public school system.

On another note, I found it sad, yet humorous, that the catalyst as to why the US decided to overhaul its mathematics education system is due to the "Red Scare" of the Soviets making advancements in scientific technology. Never mind worrying about the education of the youth for the students' benefit; the government was just eyeing the potential benefit these young kids could one day provide to them, which ties into the military obsession that America still has to this day (serve your country!).