It’s well understood that maths is becoming increasingly important in our digitising economy. The Labour government knows this, and have promised to do for numeracy what they previously did for literacy. But schools don’t have to wait for a ‘phonics for maths’ to materialise. We can start to make a positive difference now.
The previous prime minister also had maths as a focus. He rightly identified the twin challenges of maths anxiety and ‘anti-maths mindset’, and that’s something we can start to tackle today.
It’s no secret that I love maths. Sadly, not everyone feels the same. But they could, and de-coupling maths engagement from exam performance could be key to driving genuine change.
Here’s how.
A whole-school culture shift
Negative attitudes to numeracy range from the self-deprecating (‘I can’t do maths’) to the self-justifying (‘you are either a numbers person or you are not’).
When school leaders and teachers openly talk about their fear or dislike of maths, they reinforce these ideas. They also miss the opportunity to challenge them in a supportive way, which is necessary to create a more numeracy-positive discourse.
Numeracy, like literacy, is a collective responsibility. It should be taught by everyone and aligned with real-world situations. Maths is everywhere, and cross-curricular links are widespread: population percentage change in geography; scatter graphs in science and working out the ratio of ingredients in food tech.
Creating a shared maths language and agreed terms across subjects can be incredibly powerful.
EEF’s implementation framework encourages schools to think strategically about specific culture changes, starting with champion teachers or a target class or year group, then reflecting on the effectiveness of the project before going to the whole school. It helps to start small.
Make maths classrooms safe
School leaders can help create safe classroom environments where it is acknowledged that maths can be challenging and that’s ok! Challenge is part of the learning process.
Part of this is encouraging maths teachers to cultivate a growth mindset, by highlighting and learning from mistakes, praising students’ effort – not just the end result – and encouraging collaborative working.
It’s our job as educators to engage students. Science of learning developments highlight that the learning process begins with engagement. We should be priming our students’ brains for learning with rewards that reinforce a behaviour.
Likewise with maths teachers. Take the pressure off results where possible. Focus instead on how well they know their learners, how enthused their classrooms are. The results will come.
Tackle fear-based maths anxiety
Maths anxiety is real. It is becoming better understood that if a learner is anxious, they cannot learn. If maths anxiety is present, leaders and teachers need to feel equipped to tame the emotion.
It is not easy as anxious learners can present in different ways and it takes time to work with them, but we must acknowledge the role anxiety plays in learning.
If we don’t, we do a disservice to students given the impact maths anxiety has on cognitive potential. Some great resources are available, including Pearson’s maths anxiety guide.
Act as maths influencers
Maths teachers play a key role influencing students’ feelings, but school leaders also play their part. Most leaders believe in the power of maths and invest in its importance, but it is generally attached to assessment and exam performance.
This view needs to be broadened in order to challenge negative mindsets and pre-dispositions. For example, spend time with students whose results indicate they are struggling in maths. If they are shining in dance, or showing great potential in PE, what approaches can be crossed over to their maths journey?
Support your staff
Ensure your staff are accessing quality CPD. Maths Hubs can be a brilliant way of accessing up-to-date and evidence-based resources and strategies.
This is vital, especially in departments that are not fully staffed or staffed with non-specialist teachers.
Scaffolding support by drawing on insights from the strongest maths teachers can be powerful, but it can be transformational when leaders broker links with other schools too.
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