The Reality Of The Primary School Mathematics Teaching

According to Mathematics Curriculum Criteria for Compulsory Education promulgated in2001by the Ministry of Education of the PRC, there are problems of how to achieve the realistic purposes in the formulation of general instructional objectives, the compilation of textbooks, the selection of textbook content or in the organizing and evaluation of courses. It illustrates the importance of "realistic purposes" as one of the traits of primary maths teaching. However, in conventional classroom teaching,"realistic purposes" are always neglected:teaching content bears no relation to life or is reduced to a pan-life one; teachers have a "monologue", oblivious of students’ participation and feelings; teachers attach importance to exam results, ignoring the procedural value of resolving pracitical problems. Furthermore, the theoretical study on the realistic purposes of primary maths classroom teaching falls behind:there is a lack of systematic theoretical study and analysis of teaching cases with a clear aim. Therefore, it’s highly profitable to make a study on the realistic purposes of primary maths classroom teaching academically and practically.To study the realistic purposes mentioned above, we should first get a clear idea about what maths’ realistic purpose is, what the realistic purpose of maths classroom teaching is and what the realistic purpose of maths learning is, and then we should understand the relationships among the three things.Owing to the external need and its internal logic, maths’ realistic purpose is to face up to the phenomenon and problems arising from the developing society, namely the study on real life, so that maths itself gets developed.The realistic purpose of maths classroom teaching means teachers impart mathematical knowledge to students and help them develop mathematical thinking ability and cultivate good personalities by guiding them to inextricably link maths with daily life and their own experience.The realistic purpose of maths learning means teachers should have full consideration for how each student studies, including their fore-structure (recognition and knowledge), personal experience and feelings, etc.Concerning how to achieve realistic purposes, and on the basis of the full analysis of how John Dewey’s educational theory, learning theory of constructivism and theory of tacit knowledge work as guidelines, I put forward the point that the tactics of highlighting the realistic purposes of primary maths classroom teaching should begin with changing teaching concepts:1. Maths teaching should be close to life, with an emphasis on the foundation, popularity and development;2. Teaching content should be close to practice, teachers and students working together to have the lesson;3. Teachers should take up a chief position in their equal relationship with students;4. A multiple system of evaluating the realistic purposes should be formed.Second, the core of the tactics is to emphasize the teaching design of realistic purposes:1. Orientation—goal designing;2. Points fixing—content designing;3. Sequence—procedure designing;4. Location—role designing. Third, the key points of the tactics are the teaching process;1. Teachers begin the lesson with questions;2. Teachers teach the lesson in various ways;3. Teachers put emphasis upon the individualized teaching methods;4. Students shall primarily volunteer to learn.Last but not least, the essential thing is to change the way of teaching evaluation:1. The scope of teaching evaluation should be widened;2. The criteria of evaluation should remain open;3. The evaluation of teaching process should be valued;4. Multiple subjects take part in the evaluation;5. Quality should be taken into consideration in teaching evaluation.