> No, it isn't what we're talking about. We're talking about making categorical statements that are false.
That's not what we're talking about. Describing multiplication as repeated addition as a way of teaching a new concept to elementary school children is simply not lying.
Your issue is that the fact it is a simplified model is not being explicitly told to students, which is being called lying. While it would be false to say that a simplified model is the complete picture, teachers aren't standing up in class and saying "this is all there is to this subject, no need to learn any more!".
My main issue with your suggestion is that young students simply aren't going to remember a side comment at the beginning of their classes that this isn't the full picture -- so you will either have to repeat this regularly (which will be demoralising and confusing) or there really is no strong benefit to doing so.
You say that the "categorical statement" is not being repeated with each sentence -- but the thing is that when students use or discuss the tools they've learned, they're reinforcing their mental model of how the tool works. So in a way, the simplified model is being repeatedly reinforced in their mind. If you want to counteract it, saying once at the beginning of each class that introduces a new concept "this isn't the full picture" won't help most students overcome the issues they hit when they learn their old model doesn't work for more complicated problems.
> I have never said they should be told that.
You misunderstood what I said -- I said that constantly being told that what they're learning is "not the real theory" (or however you want to phrase) is demoralising in of itself -- it needlessly gives the impression to students that they're not smart enough to understand "the real theory". I never claimed that you said that teachers should say that explicitly.
That's not what we're talking about. Describing multiplication as repeated addition as a way of teaching a new concept to elementary school children is simply not lying.
Your issue is that the fact it is a simplified model is not being explicitly told to students, which is being called lying. While it would be false to say that a simplified model is the complete picture, teachers aren't standing up in class and saying "this is all there is to this subject, no need to learn any more!".
My main issue with your suggestion is that young students simply aren't going to remember a side comment at the beginning of their classes that this isn't the full picture -- so you will either have to repeat this regularly (which will be demoralising and confusing) or there really is no strong benefit to doing so.
You say that the "categorical statement" is not being repeated with each sentence -- but the thing is that when students use or discuss the tools they've learned, they're reinforcing their mental model of how the tool works. So in a way, the simplified model is being repeatedly reinforced in their mind. If you want to counteract it, saying once at the beginning of each class that introduces a new concept "this isn't the full picture" won't help most students overcome the issues they hit when they learn their old model doesn't work for more complicated problems.
> I have never said they should be told that.
You misunderstood what I said -- I said that constantly being told that what they're learning is "not the real theory" (or however you want to phrase) is demoralising in of itself -- it needlessly gives the impression to students that they're not smart enough to understand "the real theory". I never claimed that you said that teachers should say that explicitly.