[quote=captcha]I am surprised to read that someone who teaches high-level math at high school finds linear functions and matrix calculus exciting. I was expecting topology, predicate calculus or at least Euclidean geometry. After reading the article, my impression is that she was under-qualified to sub in her son’s school when he was 6 and she was just as under-qualified to teach high-level math at high school.[/quote]
First, the article, as written, does not quote Linda DeRegnaucourt. While it is possible that she relayed that sentiment to the reporter, it is just as likely that the reporter, who may have been limited in her high school mathematics education, added it into the article herself.
While it is clear that she was underqualified to teach in the beginning, she recognized the need to acquire more education. To return to school as an adult is an extremely difficult undertaking; with a young child at home, even more so.
She found that she loved learning, but what is even more important is that she was determined that other kids were not going to slip through the cracks as she had. She took the time to develop teaching techniques that would encourage this same love of learning and desire to pursue excellence in her students.
You may say that she was simply doing the job for which she was hired, and you would be correct. However, many teachers out there aren’t doing that. Some were never fit for teaching in the first place, but many more are simply burned out, not only by the low pay in many school districts, but also by the lackadaisical attitudes of administrations and parents.
Yes, I like to think that our children in advanced placement classes are being challenged at a much higher level. But the sad truth is that, here in the U.S., we fortunate if our students leave school with a basic level of literacy in reading and arithmetic. If you want to be truly shocked and saddened, go to the website for the National Center for Education Statistics:
The link will take you to the test for adult literacy. On the left side of the page, shaded in blue, you can access sample questions from the test, and how U.S. adults fared on them. It’s truly discouraging.
If teachers like Ms. DeRegnaucourt can reach some of these students, and manage to instill a love of learning in them while giving them the foundations for managing the basic demands of a junior college, they will then have the curiosity and desire that will encourage them to enroll in more complex math courses, and spur them on when they encounter the tougher demands that come with them.
Difficult as this may be for you to believe, there are many parents out there who work hard at discouraging their children from learning and from pursuing more education; I know this from personal experience. Teachers like Linda DeRegnaucourt can make all the difference in those situations: a child can grow up to spend their entire adult life unfulfilled, underpaid, and frustrated in a job for which they are highly overqualified, or they can grow up able to have their potential tapped to the fullest. Which is better for us as a nation?
I do share your frustration over the “dumbing down” of the school curriculum. However, when I look at the “superior” elementary and secondary school education that I received in the 60s and 70s, and compare it with that given to students in my parents’ generation, I see that it’s nothing new.
Given your interest in the situation, and your high level of mathematics literacy, perhaps you can volunteer your time to your local public school system, either providing support to overworked teachers there, or tutoring struggling students. In the meantime, I commend Ms. DeRegnaucourt for acquiring an education, and for her years of service to the children of her school system. Given her level of empathy, and her ability to determine the needs of those depending upon her, I know that she will make a fine nurse.
