Dyscalculia and Maths Learning Difficulties Conference

I am aware that I have not posted anything on this blog for a whole month. I think I must have been stunned into silence by Michael Gove's determination to alienate most of the teaching profession and to disregard the majority of the feedback he has been getting on his proposals for a new national curriculum. You would have thought he would know that the first rule for bringing about successful change in a professional context is to enable those who have to implement the changes to feel that they have ownership of what is proposed.

Anyway, I have been preparing my contributions as a Keynote Speaker at the Dyscalculia and Maths Learning Difficulties Conference being organised by Learning Works in London on 27 June. I have presentations on children's errors in mathematics and mathematics anxiety to give. Click on the link below for all the details. This looks likely to be an interesting conference. It is already fully booked, but there is a waiting list.


LW Conference Dyscalculia and Learning Difficulties

Mathematical problem 1: 29 rounds

Now and again I shall offer some interesting mathematical problems that my blog readers might like to solve – and perhaps use in the classroom, if they are teaching.

Here's a little mathematical problem that could be used with bright Year 6 pupils (10 to 11 years).

I was watching a snooker tournament final. This consisted potentially of 29 'frames' (rounds). But when the score was 15 to player A and 9 to player B then A was declared the winner, even though only 24 frames had been played. Why?

That's easy, of course. But I wondered how it would work if there was some kind of game of 29 rounds between 3 players (A, B and C), in which only one player can win each round. When would the match be over and one of the players declared the winner? Let's use a, b and c for the numbers of rounds won so far by A, B and C.

If a = 12, b = 9 and c = 6, then A has won and the match is over. Why?

But if a = 11, b = 9 and c = 6, then no player is certain yet to win and the match must continue. Why?

Can you find a general rule for when we can say that A has won? (Assume that A has the highest score and C the lowest).

You know what's coming next ... what about a rule for 4 players playing 29 rounds? 5 players?

Can you find a generalization for any number of players playing a game consisting of n rounds?

Dispatches: Kids don't count programme

This is my first entry into the world of blogging. So, it's good to have something really topical to comment on! Did you catch the Channel 4 Dispatches programme last Monday (15 February 2010) on the problems in primary mathematics? Make sure you catch the next part on 22 February – especially since it features the brilliant Rachel Riley from Countdown! There seemed to be three main messages from the programme, which I would want to endorse.

First, did you notice that Richard Dunne made such a difference because he focused on helping children to make connections between language, symbols and practical/concrete experiences? Anyone whose read any of my books will know that this is one of the major themes of my work.

Second – oh dear – the programme exposed the ongoing problem of teachers in primary schools not really understanding well enough the maths they have to teach. I have to agree, I'm afraid. This is so important. Those in initial teacher training, whether tutors or trainees, must really give this priority. Here's a quote from the introduction to the 4th edition of Mathematics Explained for Primary Teachers (available July 2010): 'The best teachers have a secure personal understanding of the structure and principles of what they are teaching.' As was said on the programme, that's not all they need, but it's absolutely essential.

Third, the programme really showed the way in which the end-of-Key-Stage 2 national tests contribute to an awful experience of learning mathematics for children in Year 6. We've got to get some more enlightened way of assessing children than this.

Did you see the programme? What do you think?