SAN JOSE – A group of 100 teachers in Costa Rica ignored the call of their labor union and opted to receive academic training and orientation in the new math curriculum that the Ministry of Public Education (MEP in Spanish) will implement in the 2013 school year. The Minister of Education Leonardo Garnier –better known for his hairstyle– was one of the instructors, and he praised those in attendance for their commitment to teaching reform in Costa Rica.

According to an article by Roberto Portuguez in the daily newspaper La Prensa Libre, the new mathematics curriculum for high school students in Costa Rica presents radical changes. Trigonometry, for example, will no longer be part of the subject matters taught. Statistics and calculus will be taught instead.

The Association of Secondary Education Teachers (APSE) plans a legal battle that will prevent implementation of the new curriculum. According to the labor union, their opinions with regard to the new curriculum were ignored by the MEP. The main concern behind APSE’s demands seems to be purely labor-related, rather than academic. The new curriculum will trim a total of eight lessons, and the union is worried that its members will lose some benefits as a result.

In an editorial published by the leading newspaper La Nacion, students in the ninth grade were found to have a poor grasp of scientific subjects due to their deficiencies in math. Sixty percent of students were found to have a basic understanding of the current curriculum, while 22 percent do not, according to standardized testing conducted by MEP. Most students have difficulties with simple equations, particularly those in public schools.

Luis Gerado Meza, director of the Faculty of Mathematics at the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (TEC), criticized overuse of calculators and the preponderance of shortcuts that are void of any meaningful content. Other math educators argue that there is too many complex theorems and concepts taught and not enough logic reasoning or practical applications thereof. Supporters of the new curriculum applaud certain aspects of it, such as beginning a lesson with a problem to solve, rather than jumping into theories.

The 100 math teachers who ignored their labor union leaders’ call to boycott the new curriculum represent a small fraction of the 7,000 elementary and secondary educators that will need to be trained before the next school year.

A previous article in The Costa Rica Star looked at a new book by Professor Edward Parra Salazar of the University of Costa Rica Pacific Region, which aims to debunk traditional approaches to math instruction by bringing out the potential that math has for generating curiosity and fostering logical thinking. Professor Parra believes that math should be looked at as a humanizing concept, rather than an absolute and exact science.