Another recent article....
Nat
2001 TSL Education Limited
The Times Educational Supplement
May 18, 2001
SECTION: OPINION; No.1801; Pg.21
LENGTH: 656 words
HEADLINE: Nobody's Thinking Metric
BYLINE: John Muir
BODY:
Politicians have ignored the lead given by schools and left us in a land
where petrol is sold in litres and measured in miles per gallon, says John
Muir
wo shopkeepers (one in Scotland, one in England) were taken to court
recently for continuing to sell goods in pounds and ounces, in defiance of
the ruling that all traders should use metric measures, in line with the
rest of Europe.
Wary and confused citizens, who boast no political colour, have sided with
politicians and newspaper editors from right of centre, who offered their
support with typical anti-European fervour.
A good number of years ago, increasingly aware that my own children were
part of a mathematically confused generation, I put pen to paper to suggest
that society was out of step with education as far as metrication was
concerned. When I embarked on a career in primary education in the early
seventies, the teaching of imperial measures was forbidden; textbooks that
mentioned them were purged and even conversion charts were discouraged.
Why, then, despite two generations of young people emerging from schools, do
most of us fail to "think metric"? If asked your weight or height, do you
reply in metric terms? Probably not, even if you had it drilled into you at
school.
There are those, of course, who would argue that common metaphoric parlance,
such as "a yardstick to measure against", "give him an inch and he takes a
mile", and "she always wants her pound of flesh" are undermined by the mere
mention of metrication.
I concede that "give him a centimetre and he'll take a kilometre" does not
ring true. However, I am in no doubt that the current confusion, and the
occasional public show of defiance, is down to the fact that successive
governments have failed to follow the 30-year lead of schools.
While class lessons in mental arithmetic may be making a welcome comeback,
the maths curriculum is solidly built on a metric foundation. Any suggestion
that teaching should revert to bases other than 10 would be rejected at the
highest level.
Surely, then, there should be an "M for Metrication Day" when, once and for
all, any remaining imperial measurements would go the way of pounds,
shillings and pence.
Imagine the chaos there would be at the tills if we had kept the old penny,
the half crown and the ten bob note to be used whenever we liked alongside
new pence. Yet, in terms of the move to the metrication of measure, we are
doing just that.
It is not only foreign visitors who should be amused to find a society that
sells milk in containers all marked in litres but some of a "pint" size; or
where petrol is sold in litres, but whose citizens think of the performance
of their cars in terms of miles to the gallon. And where else in Europe do
they measure floor space in square metres but insist on road signs giving
distances in miles?
The reality is that it does not cost much to tell shopkeepers to change to
metric measures but it would certainly cost a lot to change all our road
signs. There is a certain hypocrisy here, which defies logic and causes
confusion in maths teaching.
We are moving in half measures in the UK. It reminds me of the joke that
Ireland, on joining Europe, decided to phase in a decision to drive on the
right side of the road. For the first month public transport would move to
the opposite side, cars would follow after that. Two-wheeled vehicles would
continue to have a choice for the foreseeable future.
If we don't do something about our pick-and-mix system of measurement, we
will be the laughing stock of Europe, long after we have made up our minds
on whether or not to join the euro.
Come to think of it, allowing litres of petrol to be sold in euros, while we
trade in other goods in pounds and pence, might be a comforting compromise
for a number of politicians in the election campaign.
John Muir is primary adviser, Highland Council.
