The Value of Principled Eclecticism in Education Reform: 1965–2005

Abstract

At Harvard in the early 1960s, when Ruth Wong received her doctorate in mathematics education, behaviourist B. F. Skinner and cognitivist Jerome Bruner were both teaching psychology, and their ideas continued to influence her work when she returned to educational research and administration in Malaysia and Singapore. Today, whereas exemplary models of math teaching in the United States include an emphasis on communication within a community of learners, Singapore students in more traditional classrooms lead the world in solving complex problems. Through a historical glimpse of math programmes in 1965 and 2005, this article suggests that students in both countries might benefit from more eclectic teaching repertoires.