I have been writing a bit about the problem with "right" answers in the mathematics classroom lately. I think it is a big concern. Upon further reflection, I am inclined to think that my distaste is not actually for right answers but rather for the students' lack of authority in deciding that answer. As it stands now, students' ways of thinking are always subject to some greater authority (teacher, textbook, video, etc.). As Schoenfeld puts it, students:
"...have little idea, much less confidence, that they can serve as arbiters of mathematical correctness, either individually or collectively. Indeed, for most students, arguments are merely proposed by themselves. Those arguments are then judged by experts, who determine their correctness. Authority and the means of implementing it are external to the students."
There is some great reading about how this relates to "mathematics for all" and teaching for social justice. Building this community is extremely difficult. Students have developed expectations about what learning and teaching mathematics "should" look like. As a result, if we are to promote this type of student discourse it becomes necessary to renegotiate the "didactic contract" (Brousseau, 1986). This "contract" both explicitly and implicitly outlines the role of both teacher and student, the expectation for classroom discourse, and, as a result, the locus of authority.
This type of discourse simply isn't going to take place if "mathematics" is practiced as "solving" a bunch of related problems (read: 1-30 odd). Instead, find the big idea, pick one rich question to lead an investigation of that idea, and then let the students sort it out. You are likely to see students doing mathematics. To return to Schoenfeld,
"This <is> their mathematics. They <have> ownership of it, not only in the motivational sense, but in the deep epistemological sense that characterizes the true mathematical knowing and understanding possessed by mathematicians."
"...have little idea, much less confidence, that they can serve as arbiters of mathematical correctness, either individually or collectively. Indeed, for most students, arguments are merely proposed by themselves. Those arguments are then judged by experts, who determine their correctness. Authority and the means of implementing it are external to the students."
There is some great reading about how this relates to "mathematics for all" and teaching for social justice. Building this community is extremely difficult. Students have developed expectations about what learning and teaching mathematics "should" look like. As a result, if we are to promote this type of student discourse it becomes necessary to renegotiate the "didactic contract" (Brousseau, 1986). This "contract" both explicitly and implicitly outlines the role of both teacher and student, the expectation for classroom discourse, and, as a result, the locus of authority.
This type of discourse simply isn't going to take place if "mathematics" is practiced as "solving" a bunch of related problems (read: 1-30 odd). Instead, find the big idea, pick one rich question to lead an investigation of that idea, and then let the students sort it out. You are likely to see students doing mathematics. To return to Schoenfeld,
"This <is> their mathematics. They <have> ownership of it, not only in the motivational sense, but in the deep epistemological sense that characterizes the true mathematical knowing and understanding possessed by mathematicians."
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