Poles don't have a heart for math... says The New York Times

The article quotes Polish professors. It's not so much what the NY Times is saying it is what the Polish Professors are saying.

fabpedigree.com/james/mathmen.htm

I'm not trying to argue but what made you make this statement?

PF! Poles = love to argue&complain! I thought you knew this by now?! :o


I complain about the Professor

Theoretical research math, maybe. Algebra through Calculus, Statistics, anyone can learn. All it takes is to think logically.

Is there a norwayforum.com where we could share the love and ***** about Norge? Just askin' :)

ummmm acording to PISA (2009) Poland is ranked 24th in Maths, that is in comparison to 26th for the UK, so I am guessing that Maths is not as big a problem as it is made out to be. Having said that, I do believe that it is very important and should undoubtedly get greater billing, and I am sure they can improve on 24th, they are ranked 9th in literacy for instance.

Labour has been a disaster when it comes to British education, all those billions wasted. Proof if ever there was any, that spending more money on education does not automatically bring results.

You are right though, mathematics should definitely be compulsory during Matura, and the fact that it wasn't probably impoverished Poland's performance in this subject. I would go further and say that doing maths during Mature should count for extra points, that is they way it works here in Auss.

What can you expect from a newspaper?

News ;)

Like the NYT really knows anything about Poland and Poles. They are probably still flipping a coin and trying to guess which State it is in.

Oh c'mon Seanus, you know that's bull hockey what you're saying now. A simple guy met in the New York jungle might not know it but they don't hire idiots at the NYT.

So many of them are full of opinion without much fact to back it up. I cast a jaundiced eye their way.

The Polish translation of this article was horrible, made it sound fairly negative. They should have translated the entire article instead of plucking bits and pieces.

Ohh I wish :((

yes, different people have different opinions, we do too.


absolutely right convex

Yes, but we aren't newspapers.

Seanus it's obvious that the article is to promote the Science Centre (btw. has anybody been there yet?) And the text is just an excuse to have an opportunity to mention it. I've never said it was something bad intended. Just poor work.

Haven't you all really find it's claim that Germans killed all inteligencja and that's why polish studnets in XXI century are poor in maths to be bit ridiculous? Even if it something which some polish prof said (probably he had nothing to say so he said 1st thing which came to his mind just to say something)

I think I will draw a satiric cartoon:
- Adaś znowu trója?!
- Mamo, to wszystko przez Niemców!

yes but who said that newspapers don't have political views. Besides like convex said, "They should have translated the entire article instead of plucking bits and pieces."

And they didn't?
Ok, I've only flick through english version to see if it is the same article. I've not read the English version though.
Onet is famouse of bad quality... so it shouldn't be suprising.

Newspapers often confuse their readers and are convoluted by the views of their employees, editors and owners. Papers should strive to be unbiased and shouldn't offer much opinion about anything. Let the readers write in and offer opinions about what they have read. Have a page on that instead of these journalists expressing their views like they are tremendous gods with all sorts of influence. How manipulative!

raw fact doesn't sell well. People need interpretations.

People can do their own interpretations. It helps them develop analytical skills and decide where they stand. They get a better sense of who they are as people and their identity.

It just depends who they represent but even if they don't represent anyone, they still have their own opinions of course. It's a same allover the world PP.

But we need less of it. We need more objectivity and basic facts without any twists or interpretations.

This sound like a joke. It's sugesting that PRL schools system was worse but in fact it's on the contary.


But maybe it is really a matter of translation....

hey, how often (in general) do we get what we need PP? I mean, anytime and anywhere.

I don't know what you people are on about. This article is repeating what many here in Poland have bee saying for years, really, that Poles don't have a heart for maths. The precentege of people choosing technical higher education is significantly lower here than in the rest of EU. There are too many people with diplomas in history, pedagogy, administration or marketing and management and too little in high-tech and the reason is poor education in math, physics and chemistry on the primary and secondary school level. Even the Programme for International Student Assessment, despite what has been said here on the forums, showed that clearly.

If you would read the article more carefully you would notice that it is not the Germans being blamed but Poles themselves. Look:

When I read the local paper the opinions of the journalists and their biases are the most irritating thing about it. That's why I don't read the local paper that often. If that paper would just publish facts and stop trying to brainwash people more people would read it. It has very low readership because folks don't like the feeling they are being manipulated so they don't buy or subscribe. It keeps losing money and keeps raising it's prices to cover the costs.

Why not just report and generate public opinion? Make the public feel more involved and important, and they will buy more copies of the paper. Stop alienating populations with biased, meaningless crap just so you feel more important. It doesn't sell copies.

It is a very serious matter, Guesswho.

I don't know where you live but our local paper is doing just fine and almost every household gets it everyday. Not much about politics in it, more about current events in our community, ads etc. No one is brainwashing anyone here.


See and here's the problem PP, you take 1000 people in your area and everyone will probably have his own opinion about things and this is why you will never be happy with what they're writing because the chance it will hit your taste is very slim. It looks different where I live because vast majority of our ancestors came to America about 400 years ago and we had more time to build a community of citizens who feel the same way in many ways. Yes, America is unfortunitely still a very divided country.

There is no work after technical education. I'm not kidding. It's just a propaganda.

I just want the local paper to replace the opinion page with letters to the editor and a warm, friendly, sincere invitation encouraging people to write and letting the readers know how appreciated they are. Without readers you might as well not publish at all. People want to know they are needed and appreciated, not just tabula rasas set for brainwashing.

Why don't you just sit down and write a "petition" to your local paper? Who knows, maybe they'll be open to your suggestions.