The Reform of Mathematical Teaching

Abstract

MANY schoolmasters tell us that boy-nature is so depraved that his time must be fully occupied, and that a “regular hard grind” is the only way to keep him out of mischief. They give him things to grind that do not interest him; it may be that he does not understand them, or that they have no human interest. And yet every boy has interests, and teaching directed towards those interests would enthral him. The first aim should be to attract the boy's attention, and a subject which no excellence of teaching will make interesting to a particular boy is no fit subject of study for him.