Why the Call for Action?
"School districts and teachers must reflect and ask themselves, are they preparing their students to become problem solvers or rule followers?"
-Dr. Kristopher J. Childs
"School districts and teachers must reflect and ask themselves, are they preparing their students to become problem solvers or rule followers?"
-Dr. Kristopher J. Childs
The urgency for this call to change math instruction is concerned with two aspects: equity/access and careers/workforce.
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2. Careers/Workforce: The exponential growth of technology and change in the 21st century workforce has "led to a new urgency to produce students who can wrestle with complex problems. Gone are the days when basic skills could be counted on to yield high-paying jobs and an acceptable standard of living. Especially needed are individuals who can think, reason, and engage effectively in quantitative problem solving" (Stein and Smith, 2). The fact that "only 16 percent of U.S. high school seniors are proficient in mathematics and interested in a STEM career” (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2) is cause for concern.
These troubling numbers and disparities raise questions about the quality and equity of math education and instruction in the U.S.
These troubling numbers and disparities raise questions about the quality and equity of math education and instruction in the U.S.
Background of Math Education and Instruction
Traditionally, math education has been focused on the gradual release of responsibility (GRR) model (commonly referred to as “I-do We-do You-do”) where teachers first demonstrate how to solve a type of problem (“I-do”); then the students work together with the teacher to solve another similar problem (“We-do”); after which the teacher releases students to independently work on a set of similar problems (“You-do”).
This model, which "was initially developed to teach students to read and write" (Childs, 9) is set up so that "the teacher is the focal point of the instruction as they are the giver of the knowledge of the information" (Childs, 10). This model severely takes away from the cognitive demand on students. "Research tells us that students learn when they are encouraged to become the authors of their own ideas and when they are held accountable for reasoning about and understanding key ideas" (Smith and Stein, 2). In the GRR model, students typically engage in rote procedural activities which simply require them to mindlessly follow the rule shown to them by the teacher which is why "U.S. mathematics instruction has been characterized as rarely asking students to think and reason with or about mathematical ideas" (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 48). Engaging in this type of work also gives students the impression that math is about following prescribed procedures to get answers quickly. This is contrary to what people who use and study math in their professions do.
"The GRR model is effective for literacy achievement however this is not the case for mathematics" (Childs, 9). Throughout the remainder of this website I will refer to the I-do We-do You-do model as the GRR model, to avoid confusion with the model for my vision which I refer to as a YOU-do WE-do I/ME-do model.
According to Dr. Kristopher Childs, "the focus during instruction must be student-centered and not teacher-centered." With this in mind, I propose flipping the GRR model to a You-do We-do I/Me-do model in which the student is the center of instruction. Rather than the lesson starting by the teacher demonstrating how to solve a certain problem, my proposed model begins with You-do. During this stage students have opportunities to work on a problem or activity independently and try out strategies that make sense to them based on their prior understandings. Then during the We-do stage students have opportunities to work collaboratively in small groups to share ideas and strategies, after which there is a class wide discussion concentrated on the ideas and strategies of the students where the teacher simply acts as a facilitator. With this model, the I-do stage comes at the end of the lesson, when the teacher is connecting the ideas of the discussion to the learning goals of the lesson.
By placing students at the center of the lesson, more equitable learning opportunities are created for all students, and students have opportunities to develop vital critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Continue through the site to learn more details about this flipped instructional model and how I implemented it during my year of student-teaching.
This model, which "was initially developed to teach students to read and write" (Childs, 9) is set up so that "the teacher is the focal point of the instruction as they are the giver of the knowledge of the information" (Childs, 10). This model severely takes away from the cognitive demand on students. "Research tells us that students learn when they are encouraged to become the authors of their own ideas and when they are held accountable for reasoning about and understanding key ideas" (Smith and Stein, 2). In the GRR model, students typically engage in rote procedural activities which simply require them to mindlessly follow the rule shown to them by the teacher which is why "U.S. mathematics instruction has been characterized as rarely asking students to think and reason with or about mathematical ideas" (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 48). Engaging in this type of work also gives students the impression that math is about following prescribed procedures to get answers quickly. This is contrary to what people who use and study math in their professions do.
"The GRR model is effective for literacy achievement however this is not the case for mathematics" (Childs, 9). Throughout the remainder of this website I will refer to the I-do We-do You-do model as the GRR model, to avoid confusion with the model for my vision which I refer to as a YOU-do WE-do I/ME-do model.
According to Dr. Kristopher Childs, "the focus during instruction must be student-centered and not teacher-centered." With this in mind, I propose flipping the GRR model to a You-do We-do I/Me-do model in which the student is the center of instruction. Rather than the lesson starting by the teacher demonstrating how to solve a certain problem, my proposed model begins with You-do. During this stage students have opportunities to work on a problem or activity independently and try out strategies that make sense to them based on their prior understandings. Then during the We-do stage students have opportunities to work collaboratively in small groups to share ideas and strategies, after which there is a class wide discussion concentrated on the ideas and strategies of the students where the teacher simply acts as a facilitator. With this model, the I-do stage comes at the end of the lesson, when the teacher is connecting the ideas of the discussion to the learning goals of the lesson.
By placing students at the center of the lesson, more equitable learning opportunities are created for all students, and students have opportunities to develop vital critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Continue through the site to learn more details about this flipped instructional model and how I implemented it during my year of student-teaching.