A teacher says what is “the first thing that struck her” when she arrived at a private school. The example of the Olympics to Mathematics

At private schools “there are ten hours of mathematics a week. At the state there are only 4, with optional 5,” says Lavinia Savu, a mathematics teacher with experience in public and private education, in an interview with news.ro. She says she is not surprised that more Mathematics Olympians come from private schools.

Lavinia Savu is a mathematics teacher with over 20 years of experience. He teaches in public education at the Gymnasium School Pia Brătianu and, from 2019, and in the private system, at the Helikon High School in Bucharest.

“I have been teaching for six years and in the private environment. The first thing that struck me when I arrived at a private school was the number of hours allocated to the Mathematics Study. They had 10 hours a week. There are only 4, you can reach 5,” said Lavinia Savu in an interview for News.ro.

According to the teacher, the difference of hours makes a teaching adapted to the needs of each class. “When you have 10 hours a week, you can do a lot: you can go through the real rhythm of the class, you can evaluate in small pieces, you can make extensions, recovery.”

Another advantage of the private system is the opening to the teacher's proposals, explains Lavinia Savu: “Of course, if you do not have mathematics passionate, you will not reach with them the national phase of the Olympics, but you can approach the level of performance. and there is the possibility and opening to differentiated solutions ”.

She believes that it is not a surprise that the Olympians come from private schools, even smaller ones. “Time and resources are allocated for their preparation.”

Homework, sometimes “overwhelming” for students

Asked how he sees the balance between themes and teaching in the classroom, Lavinia Savu says that individual work is essential in learning mathematics. However, “themes must be given with measure and adapted to the class level.”

“In mathematics the individual thing is essential. Then you check your real what you understood and detained or what you have only accepted at the moment, believing that you will retain. So it makes sense to give homework, of course with a normal, not overwhelming measure.”

She also emphasizes that teachers do not have time to correct all themes, “that is why it is important for them to be checked in the classroom, and the real progress is checked by testing.”

Why he thinks it takes so many meditations

Asked why so many students get to do meditations to mathematics, Lavinia Savu says that “the school cannot give results without honest cooperation with the family, if there is no confidence between parents and teachers:” Without there we do not sabotage each other, that at home it is not transmitted “But does that lady teach you nothing at hours?” And at school it is not said “but your mother does not see what you write in?”.

“I believe that many meditations appear when something is unbalanced, real or imaginary. Some are necessary for the supplementation of the gaps or for students who need permanent control and support,” says the teacher.

“The notes in the catalog do not always reflect reality”

Asked about the differences between the notes during the school years and those obtained at the National Assessment, Lavinia Savu says that the problem starts “from the lack of a standardized scoring system”. There are many factors that can influence the grades given in the classroom, including the pressure of the scholarships or the desire to have high average, explains the teacher.

“Even with a standardized system I think there would be differences, but probably fewer. There are many factors that influence the scoring, unfortunately. Until a few years ago it was the average of the gymnasium that came into the calculation of the admission to the high school, then the scholarships appeared, many pressure factors that led to an artificial growth of the notes. In the other subjects, where you do not give any exam, there is no means of control ”.

What would Lavinia Savu change in the teaching of mathematics

Asked what would change in the mathematics program for the gymnasium, Lavinia Savu says that “it is difficult to create a coherent program”, but he considers that the version of the 1990s “was very good”: “and if it had to be changed, in any case it was not enough to be moved from one class to another. Exclude chapters from the gymnasium that, in high school, you are supposed to know. “

Read the full interview here.