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Rethinking Mathematics Paperback – March 1, 2005

by Eric Gutstein (Author), Bob Peterson (Author)
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 180 pages
  • Publisher: Rethinking Schools (March 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0942961544
  • ISBN-13: 978-0942961546
  • Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 8.2 x 10.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #568,537 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

2.9 out of 5 stars
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They will not have the algebraic skills necessary to succeed in Calculus or Differential Equations.
Frustrated Math Teacher
There is the astounding claim in the book, made with considerable emphasis, that math cannot be taught without political content.
John
I'm sure it gives a lot of warm fuzzies to humanities majors who don't actually have to produce results.
noman

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful
It depends on what type of course you are teaching...
By Frustrated Math Teacher on July 25, 2008
Format: Paperback
Years ago, when I was in school, we studied the types of Topics presented in this book but it was called Social Science (or Social Studies). These ideas and lesson plans are great, and students should be encouraged to explore issues of social justice. But this is not Mathematics. It is the application of (Middle School) mathematical techniques to explore social conditions. If we teach these lessons as math classes, we are no closer to closing the achievment gap and getting more minority students into science and engineering fields. They will not have the algebraic skills necessary to succeed in Calculus or Differential Equations.

Nowhere in this book do I see the Math concepts that I (as a high school math teacher) am required to teach my students in Algebra 2 or PreCalculus. (Solving quadratics, polynomials, conic sections, trigonometry, logarithms, etc.) I challenge anyone to find a multicultural way to approach the concept of dividing polynomials or simplifying rational expressions. This is what the "experts" tell us that high school teachers should do but I have yet to have anyone show me how. The only state standards that are met by the examples in this book are those that encourage critical thinking skills. What about the other 95% of the standards that require us to teach higher level math concepts that can't easily be turned into a "real world" application. Just because a skill (i.e. simplifying a rational expression) may not have a "real world self-discovery application) does not mean that students won't need to know how to simply expressions in Calculus (which does have real-life applications for engineers, and scientists).

It's a fine book, but it is a Social Science book, not a Math book. This is why the reviews are so polarized with the mathematics people on one side and the social science people on the other side.
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11 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Not a math book, a book of political indoctrination
By John on March 15, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
"Rethinking Mathematics..." has virtually no mathematical content. It appears to be a set of lesson guides, being mostly tabulations of statistics, graphs and cartoons chosen to support a leftist political agenda. The book is obsessed with race, profoundly anti-capitalist, anti-European, feminist, anti-Western, anti corporate, anti all the bogeymen of the left. But that is not math, it's political indoctrination.

This book contains no algebra, geometry, calculus, number theory, trigonometry, or any other actual math topic. It is overwhelmingly just tables and graphs of statistics, hand picked for their political agenda. There was one suggestion of using the Pythagorean Theorem to calculate the length of a wheelchair ramp. This was an exercise to highlight injustices to the handicapped. But the Pythagorean theorem was not itself a topic, only its application to this. A similar mention of integration (as in calculus) was applied to wealth distribution. Neither article had actual math content. I just mention these in case someone says "hey, the book talked about integration". Most of the book requires nothing more than ordinary arithmetic.

This book is Marxist style "re-education camp" brainwashing. It consists of various "exercises" or "lessons" to lead kids to find " injustice". Che Guevara is quoted in one place. One "lesson" for the class was to make a table of all U.S. presidents who had slaves, for how many years, how many slaves, etc. Another "lesson", "Deconstructing Barbie", is to measure various bodily dimensions and ratios of a Barbie doll and comparing them to an average person. The goal is to illustrate injustice to girls, i.e., promoting insecurities, eating disorders, etc. (is serious math going on here ?? ).Read more ›
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7 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Social Engineering is what this is
By penname on March 16, 2013
Format: Paperback
"Mathematics" should not appear in the title of this book, as it's got nothing to do with mathematics.

Social engineering was NEVER meant to be the job of the schools. This new 'thinking' is only brainwashing government schoolchildren into accepting and celebrating homosexuality (sin), abortion (legal contract killing), and other liberal leftist vices.

It's all too evident that the government schools are no longer teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, or English grammar. They're just producing ignorant 'progressive' leftist adults who follow the liberal crowd. What a shame.
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24 of 44 people found the following review helpful
what comes out of the north end of a south bound cow
By noman on August 16, 2007
Format: Paperback
OMG this is a bad book. I'm sure it gives a lot of warm fuzzies to humanities majors who don't actually have to produce results. However, if you'd like to actually learn a bit about science and math, try:

Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences
by John Allen Paulos

How to Lie With Statistics by Darrell Huff

Understanding Science: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues by Arthur N. Strahler

How to Lie with Maps (2nd Edition) by Mark Monmonier and H. J. de Blij

Calculus for Cats by Kenn Amdahl and Jim Loats
Algebra Unplugged by Kenn Amdahl

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
(you won't learn any more about math (but certainly not any less) than in "Rethinking Mathematics", but at least L. M. Montgomery doesn't lie to the reader about the contents and it's an infinitely better book.
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33 of 62 people found the following review helpful
Culturally relevant AND rigorous math instruction
By Inkslave on July 14, 2005
Format: Paperback
This book landed in the center of a political firestorm when reactionary talking-head Diane Ravitch slammed it in a June 20, 2005 opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. Quoting from the table of contents, in a manner that made it clear she hadn't actually bothered to read further, she decried the book for its efforts to make math education culturally relevant to the children actually being served by U.S. public schools.

Ravitch's shallow analysis is especially ironic given the unwavering focus this book puts on the importance of rigorous, high-quality math instruction. Its central premise is that the goal of getting kids to learn real, hard math is served, not diverted, by making lesson plans and source material resonate with the real world. This book erves that purpose by presenting numerous concrete, ready-to-teach examples of how kids can examine the world aroun them using math, as opposed to sitting in rows and getting graded on how well they regurgitate formulas they will never use in life.

This is a refreshing and incredibly practical guide to teaching high-qualiy math. Critics who can't get past the fact that the book unashamedly acknowledges that ALL math instruction is politically inspired -- ESPECIALLY instruction that seeks to keep children from thinking about political issues -- are guilty of the same shallow analysis they claim this book represents.

Buy it for yourself and decide for yourself.
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