I will propose a curriculum that has not so much a different content as a different structure. And along with that will come different objectives.

This alternative curriculum will be richer, more sophisticated, more beautiful, more hands-on, and more active. It will be more engaging for those who are ready to engage. It will be more challenging to learn and more challenging to teach and at the same time it will welcome a more diverse classroom.

I am aware that this all sounds like a pipe-dream, but don’t forget that IT WILL HAVE DIFFERENT OBJECTIVES. In a word it will value performance rather than knowledge. Instead of What do you know? it will ask What can you do?

Finally, this is not a new idea.

Bio: Peter Taylor is a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Queen’s University, cross-appointed to the Department of Biology and the Faculty of Education. His longtime area of research is in evolutionary ecology but for the past few years he has spent most of his time developing curriculum for 9-12 mathematics. His heroes are the many high-school teachers he has been lucky enough to work with.