Mathematics Reform: Looking for Insights from Nineteenth Century Events

In the nineteenth century, Warren Colburn defended understanding as the avenue to learning arithmetic and questioned the memorization method in use since the seventeenth century. Colburn's work was appreciated by educators in the common school era, and his book is still considered an important one in the history of mathematics education. Many criticisms of Colburn's ideas, however, emerged during his time, and teaching for understanding never fully reached nineteenth century mathematics classrooms. This episode in the history ofmathematics education raises questions about the success of contemporary attempts to reform school mathematics.