I am currently enrolled in a teacher preparation program in California. In our principles of reading class, we are learning about the so-called "reading wars" and the debates between "whole language" and phonics-driven approaches to teaching reading (https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2018/09/10/hard-words-why-american-kids-arent-being-taught-to-read). The science of reading is settled: teaching phonics helps children learn to read; immersing children is text-rich environments and providing lots of open-ended practice does not help children learn the basic foundational skills of reading. The reading article cited above explained that in many teacher preparation programs, "prospective teachers will be exposed to a menu in which they have 10 or 12 different approaches to reading, and they're encouraged to pick the one that will fit their personal teaching style best."
This sentence resonated with my experience learning to teach math. In our math methods course earlier in the year, we were exposed to a menu of six different approaches to teaching math (math mindsets, CGI, math centers, anticipatory planning, math discussions, and PBL). We did not learn any science about how children learn to think mathematically or abstractly, and we did not learn any frameworks about how to teach math in a research-backed way. We were encouraged to choose which math pedagogy approach fit our personal teaching style best.
Therefore, I have some hesitation and wonderings around CGI. Is CGI simply a "flavor of the month" approach to teaching mathematics? What aspects of CGI are aligned to the developmental science of how young children learn to reason mathematically? For that matter, what does it *mean* to "reason mathematically" and how much research exists about how young children learn to do so? (Here I am thinking of SMPs and of another article I read about the CRA approach to teaching math, which is a research-backed intervention strategy that moves children from thinking concretely, to representationally, to abstractly about math: http://www.fldoe.org/academics/standards/subject-areas/math-science/mathematics/cra-model.stml). I look forward to hearing others' thoughts and to continuing this exploration of teaching math!
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