Mathematics Matters #MathsMatters

Dr Mary McAteer Director, Mathematics Specialist Teacher Programmes, Edge Hill University

Edge Hill University: Acknowledged for Excellence• Grade 1 ‘outstanding’ results across all 33 possible graded areas covering every phase of initial teacher training - Primary & Early Years, Secondary and Post-Compulsory Education and Training

Ofsted Initial Teacher Education inspection report, May 2011

Professional Development for Primary Teachers:

The Mathematics Specialist Teacher programme

•Why?•What?•How?

Why?

• Primary teachers in the UK do not normally have qualifications in mathematics – there is no requirement beyond GCSE level

The Williams Review (2008)

• There should be at least one Mathematics Specialist in each primary school, in post within 10 years, with deep mathematical subject and pedagogical knowledge, making appropriate arrangements for small and rural schools. Implementation should commence in 2009 and be targeted initially to maximise impact on standards and to narrow attainment gaps.

What?

• A 2-year PG Certificate Programme, with Specialist Mathematics Specialist Teacher (MaST) Status

• For primary school teachers

• 3 core strands:– Mathematics subject knowledge– Specialist pedagogy– Working with others

Strategic objectives• To develop the mathematical subject knowledge of participating students so

Mathematics Specialist Teachers have a deep knowledge of mathematics …

• To develop a fit-for-purpose pedagogy that enables the Mathematics Specialist Teacher to draw on a wide repertoire of teaching approaches and to recognise how these support and direct children’s learning of mathematics.

• To develop the expertise needed to work with colleagues in their school (and other schools in the case of small schools) and provide effective professional development through classroom-based collaborative professional activity ….

How?

• University managed provision

• Close partnerships with Local Authority Consultants

• Excellent ‘on the ground’ knowledge

• Well developed Virtual Learning Environment

• Expert extended team

edgehill.ac.uk

Informed by…

• Curriculum requirements

• What we know about good CPD

• What we know about good maths teaching

Curriculum requirements (2014)The National Curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:•become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.•reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language•can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

Effective CPD for teachers• Achievement focused • Empowering in aspiration • Research-based and theory-rich • Context specific • Capacity building in nature • Enquiry driven • Implementation oriented and interventionist and strategic • Externally supported • Systematic

Jackson and Street (2005, pp16-17) in Street and Temperley (2005, p23)

Empowering teachers: success for learners (ACME, 2013)

• National guidelines

• Needs analysis

• Monitoring provision

• Targeted funding

• Research-informed

• Quality assurance

• Supporting professional development facilitators

Good maths teaching

It is a combination of deep subject knowledge and a range of appropriate teaching and learning techniques which make for the most powerful interactions between teachers and pupils. Enhancing subject specialism therefore needs to be seen not as an end in itself, but as a way of bringing about excellence in teaching and learning to improve standards in our schools.

(Charles Clarke, cited by Williams 2008: 8)

A way of thinking…

• Multiplicative reasoning is a key competence for many areas of employment and everyday life, and for further mathematical study. It is however a complex conceptual field.

• In our primary curriculum the aspect of multiplication which is still most emphasised is that of repeated addition (‘add three five times’) rather than that leading to multiplicative reasoning and ratio (‘five for every one of three’, ‘five times larger than 3’).

Brown, M., Küchemann, D. and Hodgen, J. Proceedings of the British Congress for Mathematics Education April 2010

Does it ‘work’?I can't begin to tell you how much this course is opening my eyes to numeracy...and how I can raise standards in my school

As a complete non-maths specialist prior to MaST, but keen to learn, MaST has really improved my confidence and depth of subject knowledge...

Subject knowledge and pedagogy

I have been working at my school for 10 years, and during those years we have tried different methods of teaching division, but I thought we could still be doing better as a school, because some children were not confident with division, even at the end of Year 6.

The way I had been teaching division could cause confusion

Teachers particularly value meeting with their consultant in LA groups. At the meetings they engage in high level discussion about mathematics and pedagogy.

The ability to develop and ‘grow’ in-house expertise in the subject was invaluable to the development of maths across the whole school.

Sharing effective practice proved invaluable today at the HEI day.

…teachers on MaST are talking to each other across the regions, making suggestions and giving advice…and think deeply about their role in school and how they can get their colleagues involved to move the school forward.

Collaboration

Networking and sustainability