Eight years ago I took the plunge: I left the college and university world and became a high school mathematics teacher. It was time for me to do what I preached.

For many years I conducted workshops for educators that I thought were innovative, exciting and spoke directly to the mathematical experience. My goal was to enhance joyful learning for students through joyful work with their teachers and I designed activities that illustrated, I hoped, the value of intellectual play, of discovering and owning ideas, of questioning assumptions, of flailing, and of experiencing success. Although deemed interesting and fun my workshops, however, were rarely seen by my colleagues as relevant to the actual classroom experience. They weren't directly “curriculum focused.”

When I consulted with teachers about this they spoke simply of their lack of time to “get through” the material assigned, it being a practical reality to push content over process. It is easier, even necessary many said, to present jargon first and establish context later, to practice mechanics over understanding, and to rely on rote thought rather than adaptability of thought. The mindset of standardized testing and college-board curricular, they felt, encourages this and I heard that there is little or no room for creative exploration in the high school classroom. And a number of teachers confessed to not knowing what innovative thinking in mathematics could mean. My workshops did not speak to their experience and their perceived needs.

I believe that the middle and high school years are formative years.