E.L. Thorndike and Edward Brooks: Two Views on Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching (Article 12) (Report‪)‬

George Santayana once wrote, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" (1905, 284). This statement is particularly appropriate in the field of education. When one reads scholars from the past, many of the same problems found in schools in 2009 are quite similar to the problems educators were complaining about more than a century ago. One of the current controversial topics in schools today, for example, is student success, or lack thereof, in mathematics. Because of differences in mathematics achievement, debates about mathematics curriculum and teaching are ubiquitous. Although the motivations were slightly different, these same debates were going on at the beginning of the twentieth century among leading minds in education and psychology. E.L. Thorndike was one such debater. Although better known for his work in behavioral psychology, Thorndike applied many of his theories to the teaching of mathematics. Another powerful figure of the nineteenth century was Edward Brooks. Brooks, although less well-known in the field of education, also expressed his views on mathematics teaching and teacher education. The work of these two prominent educators remains as relevant today as it was in the late nineteenth century. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is two-fold. First, the researcher will compare the views of these scholars on the subjects of curriculum and teaching. The researcher will then apply their work to the contemporary challenges that face mathematics curriculum and teaching. Studying the work of Thorndike and Brooks in-depth not only helps us to connect with the historical foundations of our field, it also enables us to address contemporary problems more completely and thoughtfully. EDWARD BROOKS: BIOGRAPHY AND BELIEFS