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For decades teachers and parents have accepted the judgment that some students just aren't good at math. John Mighton-the founder of a revolutionary math program designed to help failing math students-feels that not only is this wrong, but that it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. A pioneering educator, Mighton realized several years ago that children were failing math because they had come to believe they were not good at it. Once students lost confidence in their math skills and fell behind, it was very difficult for them to catch up, particularly in the classroom. He knew this from experience, because he had once failed math himself. Using the premise that anyone can learn math and anyone can teach it, Mighton's unique teaching method isolates and describes concepts so clearly that students of all skill levels can understand them. Rather than fearing failure, students learn from and build on their own successes and gain the confidence and self-esteem they need to be inspired to learn. Mighton's methods, set forth in The Myth of Ability and implemented in hundreds of Canadian schools, have had astonishing results: Not only have they helped children overcome their fear of math, but the resulting confidence has led to improved reading and motor skills as well. The Myth of Ability will transform the way teachers and parents look at the teaching of mathematics and, by extension, the entire process of education.… (more)
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Mighton exposes the myth of inability for what it is: a class-sorting social construct that exists to perpetrate an outmoded model of society. To quote him directly, "Children who grow up frustrated and insecure, meeting only a fraction of their potential, unable to reason clearly or weigh the consequences of their actions, and having witnessed few models of effective charity, will be exploited and misled with ease by corporations and politicians seeking gain. Until educated people devote themselves to breaking this cycle of ignorance, no amount of political action is likely to improve our condition."
Feudalism worked fine for centuries (at least for the select few it served), but times have changed. We need to mobilize all the human potential we can to address the serious problems and issues that we face in today's world.
The last 2/3 of the book provides actual curriculum samples to help educators do just that. These lessons all follow the principle of keeping each step as simple as possible to allow students to experience small successes as they go, building on their accumulated mastery to achieve greater successes.
This book is an inspiration for anyone who cares about education as well as a tool and a resource for anyone who is actually teaching elementary math.