Philosophy of Curriculum and Instruction
The extensive programs offered through RUSMP are unified through a common philosophy of curriculum and instruction. This philosophy is summarized in RUSMP's teaching goals and is enacted through the curriculum and the RUSMP Learning Plan.
RUSMP's Teaching Goals:
- Develop important mathematical concepts
- Emphasize student thinking, activities, creativity, and products
- Make connections with the real world, with other disciplines, and in particular, with science
- Integrate manipulatives, calculators, and computers
- Foster discovery and group activities
RUSMP developed a curriculum framework that supports student creativity and active learning in all of our programs. This curriculum rests on an underlying philosophy of how children learn mathematics and is coherent with guidelines developed by NCTM. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, when school reform was at a peak, Jerome Bruner suggested that for children to learn a discipline such as history or mathematics, schools should design curricula that have children doing what the professionals in the discipline do. The RUSMP curriculum embodies this approach with a focus on mathematical content and processes. Here, content is defined as what mathematicians know and process as what mathematicians do.