Just read part of a piece on the "war" in math curriculums between the old line and the progressives; the use of algorithms versus the more "creative" approaches favored and promoted by progressives in teaching math. The great irony is in the many references to creativity, beauty, and efficiency in the article and in the comments.
We have continually de-emphasized and now decimated the art curriculum in our schools, the very part of the curriculum where the creative aspects of math (of thinking in general) could be utilized. Algorithms have withstood the test of time. They provide foundational constructs in the same way that we employ design elements in art. The time to be creative is after the foundation is laid, not as a substitute for the foundation. Ask any architect.
There is a time and a place for creative thought. The time is after at least some of the basic tools are mastered and the initial place is in the art curriculum. And the need for some experience in the subject matter is needed for all but the prodigies. Algorithms provide this well.
For heaven's sake, again we are up against provincial academic minds, progressive or not, lead by the specialists who seem to have no interest in other areas of thought or modes of learning...
I guess we are seeing the same charge to mediocrity in math that has plagued the art world in modern times, which has similar champions of the "new," favoring those who break with the foundational underpinnings to please the market, not educate the masses...
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