According to Arutz Sheva, the nation’s math scores are “dwindling…achievements” and the goal of this project is to “…motivate new Torah-oriented math teachers…” The Central Bureau of Statistics is reporting that Israel is rapidly losing math and science teachers and the Education Ministry is echoing this concern by commenting on the assumption that in the next few years that need for teachers will grow into the hundreds.
The idea behind the reform comes from a Talmudic tradition. By infusing the texts of the Talmud into his study, Dr. David Zeitun, head of Orot College’s Mathematics Department, plans to accomplish a change in the way math is taught in schools as well as in the way math is learned in schools. According to Zeitun, “algorithms and pedagogical techniques [were] developed by Jewish Sages over the generations” and the way to improve the math deficit in Israel, is by ensuring these traditions and teachings are reinforced.
More specifically, Dr. Zeitun mentions the rich history of math found in Jewish texts. He explains that “…many Jewish scholars, such as Maimonides (Rambam)…and others, wrote scholarly treatises on math topics, and these should be recognized today. In addition, the Talmud is replete with math calculations such as figuring out the area of a round Sukkah, the circumference of Jerusalem, astronomical calculations that predict with pinpoint accuracy when the new moon will appear hundreds of years in advance, and more…” His design for restructuring the system on how to teach math is intelligent and offers a new perspective on an apparently “dwindling” subject matter.
The publication seems to have done its research on the “problem” at hand and is thorough in its investigation of this reform of Israeli education. Ha’aretz, another Israeli news publication, reported in October of 2008 and November of 2008 on much of the same issue. The main criticism to be offered for the piece itself and for the college come in the form of an attack on their ability to be nonbiased toward secular Jews living in Israel.
First, by visiting the Orot College web site, one finds that its emphasis as a school lies in teaching Jewish text and Jewish tradition; it focuses solely on women’s religiosity. It is, for all intents and purposes, odd that the school has suddenly decided to attempt to adjust the math system in the entire country. Yes, it seems as if the statistics provide enough ground for the school itself to be concerned, but with the entire country in jeopardy of failing in areas of science and math, how can this institution be concerned with teaching Jewish text at the same time? That may not be an appropriate solution for secularized Jews living in Israel or for religious Jews who are already learning Jewish traditional texts. The math reform seems to want to be interdisciplinary even in schools where there is no focus on Bible and Talmud study.
Even at the end of the article, the focus on the religious aspects of this institution is mentioned by the author, Hillel Fendel. He notes that, “Orot is now the largest and most diversified of all religious academic teaching colleges in Israel.” Fendel is a clear, concise, and informative reporter, but has offered no way to move forward with the information provided. There has been no information given as to why the current problem exists and why there is no attempt at reworking the system. The article should focus on why the system in place is in place and why Israelis need the reform via Talmud as opposed to other methods of pedagogy. It seems as if the article itself is only focusing on one general problem and one way to fix that problem without offering any guidance for readers on the subject.
0 comments:
Post a Comment