In England schools are often organized in two age groups – primary (elementary) going from age 4-11 and secondary from 12-18. I can remember being “good” at maths in secondary school and helping my friends in the same classes as me, but the work was very procedural and uninspiring – just something I did without thinking deeply about it. I also remember enjoying helping my friends, which was probably the planting of an early seed of my future life as a teacher.
In the UK everyone takes the same subjects and classes until the age of 16, then they choose a few subjects (usually no more than 4) for what are called A-levels. As I approached my A-level years I thought I would take science, maths and English, but I was told by my school that it was “not allowed” to take maths and English, I had to choose maths and sciences or English and humanities. I decided to go with maths and sciences. I still remember that as one of the ways schools narrow choices – but worse was yet to come.
It happened in my physics class, and it changed my subject choices for me. There were about 15 girls and 15 boys in the class, and before the national exam everyone takes what is called “a mock exam.” I did not (as was typical for me) do a lot of studying and only got a border line pass. That was true for about 8 students, half of whom were girls and half boys. The teacher then pronounced that all the boys could take the higher-level physics exam paper and all the girls should take the lower-level paper, as although we had got the same results, it was clear that the boys had got them from real understanding and the girls had just worked very hard to get them. I was about 15 at the time and fully aware of the sexism at play. My family argued with the school and got me placed into the higher exam. I ended up getting the highest grade and I still remember the teacher climbing up the grassy bank on a hot day to mumble an apology to me, a few months later. But the damage was done and I decided against studying physics for A-levels. It would have been with the same sexist teacher. The other girls did not argue the decision and ended up with low grades in physics- as that is all that is on offer in the low exam paper.
Instead I took maths, chemistry, biology and general studies, and in the next blog post I will tell you about my favorite teacher – my maths teacher (of course). She, and her teaching approach, are a large part of why I am still in maths today.
