How Do You Make A Curriculum Diverse?

[youngmafbog]

Surely Mafs is Mafs and English English?  And as for history we are in the UK so predominately it should cover English History, good and bad just like other countries would.

Or am I being daft?

And what happened to "When in Rome"?

Hit esc as it loads.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/12/29/labour-national-curriculum-diversity-bridget-phillipson/

[youngmafbog]

As I said "predominately it should cover English History".

Predominately: to be the largest or the most important not the sole.

[ToraToraTora]

was your school approved LB?

[ladybirder]

No Tora.  My parents separated then divorced.  They decided that their two children should be divided between them so my mother chose my baby brother and I went to my dad and step mother who was jealous of me because my dad loved me.  When dad kissed me she accused him of it not being like a father should kiss his daughter!!  NOT the case at all.  So I got sent away to boarding school to me step mum's delight.

Sorry this is getting away from the point in the OP.

[ToraToraTora]

yes but it sounds like their geography teachings were very limited.

[ladybirder]

Tora I suppose there could have been other places but I honestly don't remember. I do remember we were taught about quite a few different American states and how people living there earned a living, ie picking cotton etc.

[Untitled]

"need" - really, why?"

so that they can open a newspaper or watch the news and have some semblance of context. 

[naomi24]

What rot.  Kids are more aware now of other countries and cultures than they've ever been.

[New Judge]

“…people growing up in the UK need to know about more history than just UK history,”

“…so that they can open a newspaper or watch the news and have some semblance of context.”

But Pythagoras’s theory is not about history at all, let alone UK history. The material that ‘chico provided simply demonstrates that other people recognised the properties of right-angled triangles  as well as he did. It says this:

The Pythagorean Theorem is synonymous with the Greek mathematician after whom it is named. However, the result was widely known about in a range of cultures around the world in the centuries before Pythagoras lived. The Pythagorean Theorem appeared in various ancient texts in which authors offered attempts to demonstrate and prove the result, as well as apply it in solving problems.

But it doesn’t matter. All maths students need to know is that the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. I would argue that being able to prove it is more a matter of interest than necessity (in much the same way as it is not necessary to prove that one plus one equals two). But If students must be able to prove it there are far easier and more comprehensible ways to do so than much of the stuff in that article, using some of which is plainly absurd to relate to Pythagoras. 

The article talks of “decolonising” maths and I’m sure that was uppermost in Ms Phillipson’s mind when she considers her reforms to the curriculum. But as far as I know, Ancient Greece was not colonised by Britain. Maths does not need decolonising. I would argue that neither does much else, but that's for another day. Meanwhile all her efforts will achieve will simply mean it will take four times as long to explain a simple theorem because he teacher will have to explain that oher people, apart from Pythagoras, may have stumbled upon the same idea.
 

[Untitled]

i think it's quite obvious that i wasn't responding to the stuff about maths. 

[davebro3]

What is it about history that is so illuminating about how life is lived in the 21st century?

I seem to manage quite well & I slept through most of Mr. Wignall's interminable lessons about the Romans.

[New Judge]

"i think it's quite obvious that i wasn't responding to the stuff about maths."

Yes it was. But the "stuff about maths" wasn't about maths. The item on Pythagoras had a subtitle "Explore the Pythagorean Theorem in ancient texts in order to better appreciate how maths has developed in a range of diverse cultures."

It was just one of  many in 'chico's link. This is undoubtedly the sort of thing the new Education secretary has in mind for her new curriculum. 

This material is published under the "Advanced Mathematics Support Programme". It has nothing to do with mathematics.

"In order to better appreciate how maths has developed in a range of diverse cultures." would be an interesting thesis for a PhD if you like that sort of thing (so long as it wasn't in mathematics). It has no place in secondary education.