The Wokenization of Singapore Math

When white Christian nationalists or ultra-MAGA patriots subscribe to the radical pedagogy that adopting (or adapting part of) the Singapore math curriculum would only adulterate theirs, because exposing local students to alien problem-solving strategies and heuristics under the guise of multicultural math or ethnomathematics would only give undue credit to foreign curriculum math specialists and publishers.

A number of white or “woke” curriculum censors are covertly working hand in hand with American textbook publishers to push for the wokenization of Singapore math, with both parties having a vested interest to ensure that dear inch-deep-mile-wide K–12 math textbooks rather than value-for-money foreign math titles inundate as many states and local schools as possible.

by Fasters May 9, 2023

The Napsterization of Singapore Math

When digital pirates from notorious copyright-violating countries like India, Pakistan, and Nigeria are blatantly sharing Singapore math e-books, students’ and teachers’ resources, and textbook solutions; or are selling them at a fraction of their actual prices.

To tens of thousands of students and teachers in the developing world, the Napsterization of Singapore math looks more like the democratization rather than the illegal dissemination of Singapore math materials to help raise their quantitative literacy at zero costs or for the price of a few megabytes.

by MathPlus November 25, 2021

The MAGA-fication of Singapore Math

When more Trumpublican parents and patriots, who believed the 2020 election was stolen from ex-President Trump, are pushing their lawmakers to fine or revoke the licences of state bookstores that sell Singapore math textbooks and workbooks, and also to ban these oft-brain-unfriendly but wallet-friendly titles in local schools, because these foreign K–12 math publications are allegedly detrimental to the mental health of local math-anxious or low self-esteem students.

The MAGA-fication of Singapore math has failed to prevent tens of thousands of homeschoolers in red states every year from ordering value-for-money math titles from the “fine” city for their children, who’re often bored or unchallenged by their dear inch-deep, mile-wide thick colorful math textbooks.

by Fasters September 15, 2022

The Bastardization of Singapore Math

When foreign countries discreetly incorporate the best of the Singapore math curriculum, such as the bar or stack model method, learning experiences, and big ideas, into their own local curriculum, by adopting it as their stepchild, where cross-fertilization of local and foreign ideas occasionally results in an aha! by-product.

Thanks to the bastardization of Singapore math, the US Common Core Math had given birth to a few beautiful methodological and pedagogical offsprings in math education, much to the delight of local math educators who follow closely how their foreign counterparts are creatively adopting some of the problem-solving visualization strategies.

by Fasters July 19, 2022

The McDonaldization of Singapore Math

When bots would select word problems from a question bank, then forward them to ghost editors in Bangalore, before sending the final proof to POD publishers like Amazon Kindle to distribute both printed and e-copies to customers worldwide.

Guesstimate how much the McDonaldization of Singapore math mass market is worth every year, as professional pirates from India, Pakistan, and Nigeria try to cash in.

by Fasters September 10, 2022

The Covidization of Singapore Math

When math writers or publishers in Singapore withheld or delayed publishing any new titles during the lockdown, because local bookstores were considered non-essential businesses, and in the living-with-Covid new normal, new foreign titles are being axed for being too dear to be shipped overseas due to rising freight costs and recurring global supply chain disruptions.

No one knows whether the publication of foreign editions of Singapore math textbooks is heading towards a subset industry or not as a result of the covidization of Singapore math.

by Covido April 26, 2022

The Cecanization of Singapore Math

When the quality of Singapore math textbooks and supplementary titles took a beating in the last one and a half decades, because both local and foreign math editors were reporting to their oft-clueless bosses, who were recruited under the Singapore-India “Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement” (CECA), many of whom with quasi-zero understanding of the Singapore educational system and the local educational publishing industry.

It’s hard to estimate the reputational and economic costs suffered by publishing houses in the aftermath of the Cecanization of Singapore Math: resignation of editors, frustration of authors, rejection of textbooks, brand dilution, and the like.

by MathPlus July 30, 2021