MATHEMATICS EDUCATION FORUM

FIELDS MATHEMATICS EDUCATION FORUM
MINUTES - March 22, 2003

Present: Stewart Craven, Shirley Dalrymple, Janet Elliott, George Gadanidis, John Kezys, Julie Kretchman, Dragana Martinovic, Eric Muller, Geoff Roulet, Tom Sepp, Margaret Sinclair, ChrisTine Suurtamm, Reka Szasz, Peter Taylor, Walter Whiteley

Regrets: Gila Hanna, Bradd Hart

10:00 start

1. Christine Suurtamm presented the Ontario Early Math Strategy
The Report of the Expert Panel on Early Math in Ontario is available here through the Ministry of Education website.
-The paper was a product of French and English educators
-It is generally geared towards teachers, but also can serve as a guide for parents
-There were no significant content edits made to the report
-One of the points stressed is that from K-3, children must have strong home and school connections
-While many teachers have a 'grocery list' interpretation of the ministry strands, many of the big ideas in mathematics transcend these categories
-Sustained professional development of both educators and principals is very important
-The 'lead teacher' strategy is more difficult for certain areas: in Northern school boards, where schools and educators are more spread out, collaboration becomes a problem in the manner envisioned by the 'lead teacher' approach
--this is where e-learning and online PD become more important
-Christine also discussed George Gadanidis' idea of a "romantic" connection with mathematics: when children experience this connection, it can instill a sense of wonder in them, and the freedom to explore different ideas.

2. Discussion of Big Ideas in methematics
-"Although mathematics is big, children's minds are bigger"