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

Mathematics anxiety and teaching approaches

I've been doing my stuff on 'mathematics anxiety' for various groups of teachers recently. The conclusion of my analysis of the problem and why it is important is a list of recommendations for approaches to teaching, designed to address the problem. Here it is.

What can teachers do about the problem of mathematics anxiety?

Emphasise meaningful-learning, rather than rote learning.

All research evidence suggests that a rote-learning mind set generates more anxiety, because of the fear of not being able to recall correctly what seems to be an arbitrary process when it is required. Adopt a teaching style that encourages a meaningful-learning mind set rather than a rote-learning mind set.

Be sensitive to individual children who seem unhelpfully anxious

The evidence is that intervention can make a difference; set targets for reducing anxiety through encouragement, reassurance, sympathetically avoiding putting them under unnecessary pressure; eg do not expect excessively anxious to answer questions or demonstrate mathematical procedures in public.

Do not limit mathematical experiences to tasks that are right or wrong.

Give pupils a range of activities, including those that have many possible responses.

Mistakes are welcome!

Develop a classroom ethos in which mistakes and misunderstandings are welcome, in which children know that the teacher welcomes their questions and wants to know if they do not understand. It is possible for a primary school teacher to generate a classroom ethos in which errors and misunderstandings made by individual pupils are welcomed as an opportunity for the whole class to improve their understanding. In such a classroom a pupil making an error that reveals a mathematical difficulty or possible misunderstanding is seen as a helpful occurrence for the whole class. The teacher may even thank the pupil for making the error, because of the opportunity it provides for all the pupils to learn from it and to be aware of a potential pitfall. In such an approach the teacher does not seek at all costs to teach in a way that minimizes pupil error, but will allow errors to occur, sometimes quite deliberately. Clearly, such an approach requires sensitivity on the part of the teacher and awareness that there are some pupils who find it very difficult to be seen to make mistakes. But this approach has been endorsed by Ofsted, the government’s inspection agency in England, who found that effective teachers ‘cultivate an ethos where pupils do not mind making mistakes because errors are seen as part of the learning’ (Ofsted, 2003, paragraph 35).

Challenge and success

In planning tasks for children, ensure an appropriate balance between challenge and success. children respond to challenge, but too little success and the repeated experience of failure is likely to foster low self-esteem and anxiety.

Reward not just correct answers

Make sure that the provision of correct answers is not the only thing for which children get rewarded in mathematics lessons. Give marks, encouragement, praise and so on, for having good ideas, for thinking creatively, for having a go, for taking risks, and for process.

Thinking time

Recognize that some children need more thinking time than others, so do not put too much emphasis on doing mathematics quickly or expecting children to provide answers to questions instantly.

Make mathematics enjoyable for children

Then they will be less likely to be inhibited and will want to participate.

Communicate positive attitudes to mathematics

Teach the subject with enthusiasm, a sense of humour and fun, showing children that you enjoy it and value it.

Exploit social aspects of doing mathematics.

Provided these are non-threatening and anxious children feel secure enough to participate.

Assessment

When giving children any kind of assessment task, emphasize that the main purpose is to help you find out how well you have been teaching them and to teach them better in the future.

Fear of mathematics 1

On Wednesday this week, I spoke to an enthusiastic group of primary school mathematics leaders on an Every Child Counts conference at Edge Hill University in Ormskirk. I had been invited to speak about 'Fear of mathematics'.

One of the main points I made was about the relationship between mathematics anxiety and a rote-learning mind set. There is research evidence (see a study by Karen Newstead, 1995, 1998) that children aged 9 to 11 years are more likely to develop mathematics anxiety if they are taught by traditional methods that rely on memorizing and drill of calculation processes without a focus on understanding.

It seems that teaching that promotes reliance on rote-learning in mathematics generates more anxiety about the subject. The learner gets the idea that there is only one right way of doing any mathematics question, worries about which process to use for which problem, gets different processes confused and cannot cope with anything that is not immediately recognisable as requiring a standard, routine response.

But this is a viscious circle, because mathematics anxiety seems to reinforce reliance on rote-learning. The anxious learner is more likely to have given up expecting to make sense of mathematics and seeks only to try to remember what you have to do for certain kinds of questions. Anxiety inhibits learning with understanding.

The key seems to be to teach mathematics well! In other words, to teach in a way that promotes a meaningful learning mind set, that encourages children to make sense of mathematics, by making connections between language, symbols, practical and real-life situations and pictures. I have written about this extensively in Chapter 3 of Mathematics Explained for Primary Teachers, 4th edition: Learning How to Learn Mathematics.