23/03/2018

Great math teachers shape destinies.

On March 14th, the world lost one of the most charismatic scientists of the last hundred years. At a time when scientific advancement is increasingly difficult, conducting experiments to test physics hypotheses, the British scientist Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) became the leading exponent in applying the other tool we have to unravel the Universe: mathematics.

Through their intellect, Hawking and his collaborators discovered remarkable facts about phenomena—such as black holes—that we haven't even been able to observe yet. I remember my fascination when, during my college years, I learned about the "singularity theorem," which Hawking proved along with Roger Penrose (born in 1931): it is the mathematical proof that at least part of the Universe was created at some point; it couldn't have existed forever.

But Hawking was not a natural talent, quite the opposite. Due in part to slow progress with reading and writing, he struggled with mathematics at school. He attributed much of the credit for discovering his vocation to the British mathematician of Armenian origin, Dikran Tahta (1928-2006), his teacher during his adolescence.

“The human mind is incredible. To reach its full potential, it needs a spark. The spark of questioning, of emotion, of passion. Often, it comes from a teacher. Dikran Tahta showed me how to harness my energy and encouraged me to think creatively about mathematics. He made me think. He made me curious. He opened new worlds for me. That’s what a great teacher can do,” he declared.

How do you create a great math teacher, and how can you encourage more and more of them to emerge in our country?

During a recent visit to Brazil, OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) director Andreas Schleicher was asked to comment on the challenges and opportunities facing our education system. Schleicher places the teacher at the center of his responses, emphasizing that technology, diversity, and new curricula have made the teacher's job "a hundred times more difficult in the last ten or fifteen years."

“Teaching formulas and equations is much easier than teaching mathematical thinking. Think about the social demands placed on the teacher. It's not just about how they teach, but about who they are, how they relate to the students, and how they meet the needs of each one. It's as if they have to become a social worker or a psychologist,” he reflects.

Schleicher insists that it is necessary to make the teaching career more intellectually attractive, prioritizing investment in teacher training. He cites Finland as an example where, according to him, "everyone wants to be a teacher, not because of the money, but because it's an incredible profession that involves organizing schools, developing leadership, and building careers."

To read the full text, visit the newspaper's website.

Folha allows each reader access to ten articles per month even without a subscription.