Maths in a classroom

The concept of maths can arguably intimidate many students in todays’ education due to a variety of things. I’ll be discussing the stigma around mathematics and how we can improve the student's attitudes towards maths in the classroom.  To enable children to enhance their mathematic skills and knowledge, it’s important to use maths in real life situations for children to gain a better understanding, as Boaler says, “There would be no great musicians if in music sessions students could only move notes around on a page. Great musicians develop by applying the theory to practice in hands on experiences. This isn’t happening enough in classrooms across the globe when it comes to maths.” (Boaler, 2014, p 130). Coles and Copland support this statement as they believe that “working with 'realistic' problems - problems that are 'sensible' in that they could have meaning outside the mathematics classroom - appears to provide sound learning experiences for pupils”. (Coles and Copland, 2002, page 2) which suggests that putting maths into real life situations proves to be beneficial for children, enabling them to “apply maths to real life problems or situations. It is suggested by Welchman- Tischler (1992) that linking literature with maths promotes children’s interest and helps them to make connections of mathematical ideas to their personal experiences, and Briggs and Davis support this by mentioning  that “literature offers an opportunity to link abstract mathematical ideas with other events in children’s everyday lives.” (Briggs, M. and Davis, S. 2012, p 68) meaning that they will have a better understanding of maths and how it may be used in the real world. 

It is the Welsh Government’s priority to raise the standards in numeracy across wales and according to Learning Wales (2016) the National Numeracy Programme is in place to set out actions which will improve numeracy standards across the curriculum. There are many ways in which a practitioner can make maths fun, such as, changing the scenery or creating games or new activities etc. By changing the scenery this can help give a child a fresh outlook, enabling them to expand and express their thoughts and feelings. Currently, students are still being taught maths in a generic and old - fashioned way. for example, teacher at the front talking at students or handing a text books for students to complete. Although, in primary schools, practitioners are always looking for new ways to teach children and engage them, for explore, forest school- can take children up to forest school and teach maths there.  From my past experience with maths, using different ICT tools such as Kahoot, was helpful as it was competitive and fun although, there can be some downsides to this as some students may guess answers rather than thinking about it.

This video shows us an example of how we could make maths more fun, enabling children to learn more effectively and gain positive experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twbDN_8B2a8

Some children have bad experiences when it comes to being taught maths, which can affect there learning. For example, some students may not understand, therefore not enjoying it, they may have a teacher they do not like or get along with, the classroom may be disruptive etc. As mentioned by Noyes (2007) “There is no doubt mathematic skill will be required for pupils to contribute and participate in society in later life however the way some maths is presented put pupils off”. To improve their experience with maths there are few things that can be done, such as presenting maths in a fun way; which goes back to what was said above, that teaching in a different space may help make maths more enjoyable and exciting. There are many ways of making maths fun and exciting for children, simply by having a positive attitude towards maths can make a difference. If children see that the practitioner is not enjoying the subject, they will sense this feeling and mirror it.  The Literacy and Numeracy Framework (LNF) set out to develop curriculum content which is to “ensure all learners have opportunities to develop and refine the skills set out in the LNF.” (Government, 2019). Maths is viewed as an important skill set to obtain along with literacy and science and supporting this, Compton et al (2007) mentions that “mathematics is the ability to use a form of abstract, logical reasoning to answer particular types of problems.” (Adams, 2019), meaning that it enhances the student’s ability to problem solve.

References

Adams, D. (2019). 'Maths is scary and boring' Unpacing primary mathematics.

Briggs, M. and Davis, S. (2012) Creative Teaching: Mathematics in the Early Years and Primary Classroom. London: Routledge

Boaler, J., Wiliam, D. et al., (2000). “Students’ experiences of ability grouping – disaffection, polarisation and the construction of failure.” British Education Research Journal 26 (5): 631- 648

Coles, D. and Copeland, T. (2014) Numeracy and mathematics across the primary curriculum: Building confidence and understanding. London: Routledge. Page 2.

Government, W. (2019). Learning Wales. [online] Learning.gov.wales. Available at: https://learning.gov.wales/resources/browse-all/nlnf/?lang=en [Accessed 4 May 2019].

Learning Wales (2016) Available at http://learning.goc.wales/resources/learningpacks/mep/numeracy/understanding-numeracy/thenational-numeracy-programme-and-the-inf/?lang=en (Accessed 3rs January 2019).

Noyes, A. (2007). Rethinking school mathematics. London: Paul Chapman Publishing

Welchman- Tischler, R (1992) How to use literature to teach mathematics. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Available: watt.enc.org/org/online/ENC2285/2285.