Recently, the Exeter Bulletin published an amazing Memorial Minute in honor of Rick Parris just this past week which I believe was wonderfully written.  In it they use a quote that Rick stated back in 1984 which shows his wisdom and insight into student learning of mathematics and the basis of my interest in PBL.

“My interest in such problems is due in part to the pleasure I get from working them myself, but it also stems from my belief that the only students who really learn mathematics well are the ones who develop the staying power and imagination that it takes to be problem-solvers. Such students will have thus learned that being accomplished in mathematics is not simply a matter of learning enough formulas to pass tests; that creative, original thought requires living with some questions for extended periods of time, and that academic adventure can be found in the pursuit and discovery of patterns, more so than in the mere mastery of known formulas.”

In this one paragraph is the whole of what you can find in so many blogposts, writings of so-called “experts” and “thought-leaders” in education nowadays.  I’m not so sure that the recent trend of promoting curiosity, innovation, creativity, perseverance and ‘grit’ are such original ideas.  It just has taken a long time to catch on in any type of mainstream educational jargon.

Rick Parris knew the truth over 30 years ago and led the charge in curriculum writing, pedagogical study, and leadership in student learning.  Always humble, but deeply interested in discussion, he would never shy away from the chance to discuss teaching mathematics and so I was lucky enough to have him as a colleague in the early years of my career.  He helped form my teaching philosophy and I owe a huge debt to the wisdom he imparted to me.  I seek to help students “live with some questions” every day in my classroom and I join them daily on the “academic adventure” of problem-based learning.  I can only hope that the mathematics community and society as a whole in the U.S. can catch up with his wisdom and we can eventually change the way we view learning mathematics.