Here's the story:

Having satisfactorily established the connection between mathematics teaching and democratic attitudes in societies - see, for example, the proceedings of the four-nation 1996-98 EU Comenius project directed by the Stuttgart educational research institute LEU, and the New Scientist article of the 28th August 1999 - Colin Hannaford was invited by the EU Education Commission to apply for funds for a "multiplier activity" to continue the development of the requisite teaching programme in up to 29 associated EU countries. This being entirely beyond his own resources, Colin approached the University of Budapest and the Maths Institute in Prague to ask these bodies to direct the new project.

This possibility is being actively explored in principle, but there are two major obstacles. In the first place, despite the immense importance to Europe of sustaining democratic development in countries of the former Soviet Union, it would not be possible to include any of them in the project. In the second the EU requires a contribution of funding from participating agencies before agreeing to fund the rest.

To overcome both obstacles, Colin has therefore written a world-wide blockbusting best-seller: a drawing and colouring book for ten year olds, to show them how their minds work, why the conventional teaching of mathematics will always cause many to fail, and why a simple and obvious process that they can learn themselves and called, at various places and times, the Hungarian Method or the Socratic method, will help them to use more of their mind's capacity, and succeed.

The Appeal

Thanks to the generosity of Daily Information the following text may be copied for your personal family use, or, if you are a teacher, for members of your classes. Copyright is reserved and the text is not being sold. Contributions can be made to the The Central and Eastern Europe Democracy Appeal by sending a donation (it seems to us that £3 - £5 per copy would be suitable) directly to the Institute for Democracy from Mathematics Account, NatWest Bank, Cornmarket, Oxford OX1 3ES.

More information about the Institute will be found at www.gardenofdemocracy.org.

Thank you.