"read it, write it, explore it, and communicate it with confidence"

Phillips Exeter Academy

For all the secondary educators out there, I thought this goals statement on mathematics teaching, from Phillips Exeter Academy (one of the foremost private preparatory schools in the nation) was worth passing along. The link comes via a recent Twitter post from Mr. Honner.
The Academy puts the emphasis for math courses on problem solving, both doing and presenting, and is very student-centered, interactive, and collaborative. I found this explanatory paragraph especially interesting (though of course it wouldn't be practical in all secondary settings):

"As in most Academy classes, mathematics is studied seminar-style, with students and instructor seated around a large table. This pedagogy demands that students be active contributors in class each day; they are expected to ask questions, to share their results with their classmates, and to be prime movers of each day's investigations. The benefit of such participation in the students' study of mathematics is an enhanced ability to ask effective questions, to answer fellow students' inquiries, and to critically assess and present their own work. The goal is that the students, not the teacher or a textbook, be the source of mathematical knowledge."

But read the whole piece for yourself:

http://www.exeter.edu/academics/72_6532.aspx