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Learning Mathematics and Access to Higher Education*
The massification of higher education is a global phenomenon and responds
to profound social changes that have increased the work associated with higher
learning. Today no modern country should have elitist university systems regardless
of how superb their studies may be. Higher learning should serve as a mechanism
to promote the disadvantaged sectors and balance socio-economical inequalities.
In fact, higher education should be a permanent social service for all. No
one should feel “exiled” from the world of higher learning.
Many years ago secondary schools adequately prepared their graduates for university
life. Today it is clear the situation has changed. The difference between
secondary and university teaching is even greater. There is endless proof
that the mathematical training of secondary school graduates has become an
important obstacle in the cycle from secondary to university education. Many
university professors continue with the “pure” versus “applied” mathematics
discussion, which seems to be an endless and irrelevant debate. Others have
undertaken serious research in the field of teaching mathematics, but rarely
is this research made available to teachers in a motivating or understandable
manner.
New technologies have made significant contributions to the question of “what
to teach”, but not “how to teach”. This has become a crucial issue for all
levels of mathematics education. Primary and secondary level teachers have
difficult questions to answer: Processes? Content? Algorithms? Although it
appears as though universities ask for processes, they require entrance exams
in which complicated algorithms – those that a computer could solve in seconds
– determine acceptance.
At the end of secondary school and the beginning of university -- at least
in the area of mathematics—it seems as though we are trying to put the roof
on a house that has no foundation or walls. We must articulate systematic
actions and promote teacher training in the face of these new contexts
We are not asking for “recipes”. We are simply asking teachers of all levels
who are committed to improving quality with equity to reflect on these issues
and give them the attention they deserve.?
Susana Zito
Guest Editor
Universidad Nacional de Luján
*The ideas, thoughts, and opinions expressed are not necessarily of the OAS nor of its member states. The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors.
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