Response to the Royal Society ACME about the future of mathematics in education by William Gray and Anna Gawthorpe, assisted by the reading group of ECMG members.
The Royal Society ACME have initiated a programme to look at the future of mathematics in education and put out a call for views. This is our response to the Mathematical Futures programme’s second core question: How should education systems develop the mathematical competences that citizens will need to thrive in the future?
What should be the main goals of mathematics education, and why?
To look forward in mathematics education, first we must look back. Successive governments have implemented new curricula, strategies and policies without first reviewing what came before it. The National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) (DfEE, 1999) was adopted by and used in most English schools (Millet & Jonson, 2000). In 2011, the Department for Education (2011) published a two page review that accounted for the previous 12 years of maths teaching. All the points made in this report were positive and seemed to ignore many of the concerns set out by Rand (2008) and Ofsted (2010). James (2018) describes the process of writing the new curriculum (DfE, 2013) as moving too fast. The DfE attempted to review the previous twelve years of education, consult stakeholders, process responses, compare curricula in high performing jurisdictions and then write and consult on a new curriculum in just two years. Richard Hudson, who was responsible for writing the English subject area of the national curriculum (DfE, 2013), described the process as chaotic and not based on good research evidence (Guardian, 2017).
It should be our priority as voices in mathematics education to stand up for proper review and use of strong research evidence to inform policy. Policies are still being released that are not grounded in the latest evidence (see Early Childhood Maths Group, 2020). Research based maths education is already happening to great effect in other parts of the world (see for instance the work of Clements & Sarama, 2020), yet in England even the latest developments in maths education policy cannot claim to be truly research informed.
Additionally, it is our belief that we need to invest more time into researching maths anxiety. We have seen first-hand the crippling effect anxiety can have on children and adults’ attitudes towards mathematics. We have heard children say things like “I’m just not good at maths.” This could have come from negative school experiences, or from the way adults around them model attitudes towards mathematics. More work needs to be done on how to combat deep rooted anxieties that hold both adults and children back in maths.
We believe there should be a significant focus on early mathematics, as it is a large predictor of later success (EIF, 2018). Recently, the government has published new early years reforms and we have significant worries with regards to some of these (See ECMG, 2020). Rather than ensuring these are grounded in strong research evidence (such as Clements & Sarama 2020), these new reforms include goals that have no research backing. A child’s early mathematical journey is crucial and all voices in mathematics education should stand together in campaigning for the best, research informed mathematical foundation for all children.
What do you expect to be the challenges facing mathematics education in the next twenty years?
The COVID 19 pandemic has had significant effects on our entire way of life. In education, schools were closed for most pupils from March-September 2020. The pandemic has also had considerable effects on both mental and physical health and these challenges should not be understated. In 2018-19, 4.2 million children were living in poverty in the UK (CPAG, 2019). With forecasters suggesting that unemployment will rise significantly (BBC, 2020), it is likely that the child poverty rate will also increase. Poverty can have significant negative effects on a child’s life, including on their education (EIF, 2018; CPAG, 2020). One of the biggest challenges of the coming years is going to be unpicking the true impact of the pandemic and how we go forward in giving children what they need. This will require significant research.
Teacher recruitment and retention will also affect mathematics teaching over the next 20 years. Both of these are well documented challenges for the education sector. Despite efforts from successive education secretaries, retention rates continue to fall, as do teacher training applications (EdExec, 2019; InsideGovernment, 2019). With increasing numbers of practicing teachers leaving the profession, along with fewer trainees entering, this could lead to huge gaps for mathematics teaching.
Additionally, the diversity of our teachers, policy makers and role models needs to be carefully considered. Everyone deserves to be represented in the world of mathematics education and we need to all strive to do better. It could be a challenge to ensure that voices are heard from a wide range of society on maths education, but this is a challenge we must rise to.
How could the challenges you have set out in your response to the previous two questions be addressed in practice?
To address the challenges set out previously, we require a high-quality early years mathematics curriculum, delivered by well-trained and well-supported practitioners. We advocate for a research-informed, practiced based and developmentally appropriate early maths curriculum, underpinned by effective early years pedagogy. Such efforts from the sector continue despite government policy, for example the Birth to 5 matters document which has been written by practitioners and for practitioners. Research-informed learning trajectories are needed for the key areas of early mathematics. Our curriculum must provide children with solid foundations for future learning in mathematics; relevant areas include subitising, cardinality, ordinality, spatial reasoning and pattern recognition. Effective pedagogy means that children are supported to learn in contexts which are meaningful to them, in ways that are supportive of their own mathematical curiosities; this requires sensitive and skilled practitioners who are able to respond to children appropriately in the moment and retrospectively through their reflection and planning. Skilled practitioners are able to design future learning opportunities within continuous provision clearly linked with high quality adult modelling of key concepts, skills and thinking aloud.
We know that poor education opportunities impact disproportionately on those with disadvantage. If rates of national poverty are to rise, as is expected, then it becomes even more important that maths teaching and learning is inclusive and of high quality. We expect that increased poverty will in turn impact negatively on children’s holistic development. Rich opportunities for mathematics should thus include opportunities for the development of the prime areas of learning: communication & language; personal, social and emotional development; and physical development. Access to high quality training and ongoing professional development to support practitioners is key to the delivery of a high quality and inclusive maths curriculum, which ensures high expectations of all children, no matter their disposition.
Professional development is essential for the recruitment and retention of high-quality practitioners. Practitioners need to be enabled to develop confidence so that their motivation for joining the profession is sustained, and they are able to experience the joy of teaching young children. All too often early years teachers are struggling to fit too much into their day, with competing demands and expectations from school leaders to ‘get through’ a high number of adult-led tasks. We therefore suggest that all stakeholders need to work together to provide training, guidance and ongoing support for practitioners. Expertise needs to be shared through collaborative and supportive structures, which ensure that every practitioner is well-trained and knows who to go to for expert advice in early mathematics. This provision should not be a lottery for practitioners, but rather a national offer. Further funding is needed, both for research as mentioned above, and for high-quality training and CPD.
Finally, we recommend active initiatives to encourage applications from diverse communities at all levels of mathematics education, research and policy. Practically, this should include subconscious bias training for leaders in recruitment positions in all areas of sector. This requires all current stakeholders in the sector to come together for the benefit of all. Each child or young adult, no matter their race, gender or sexuality should be able to find a role model in one of their teachers. We have to do our best to ensure this.
References
BBC. (2020). Unemployment rate: How many people are out of work? [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52660591
Clements, D., Sarama, J., (2020). Learning and Teaching with Learning Trajectories. Available at: https://learningtrajectories.org
Child Poverty Action Group (2019). Child poverty facts and figures. [online] CPAG. Available at: https://cpag.org.uk/child-poverty/child-poverty-facts-and-figures
Child Poverty Action Group (2020). POVERTY IN THE PANDEMIC: The impact of coronavirus on low-income families and children. [online] CPAG. Available at: https://cpag.org.uk/child-poverty/child-poverty-facts-and-figures
Department for Education (2011). The National Strategies 1997-2011. London: Department for Education.
Department for Education (2013). The National Curriculum. London: Department for Education.
Department for Education and Employment (1999). The National Numeracy Strategy. London: Department for Education and Employment.
Early Childhood Maths Group (2020). Response to the EYFS reforms [online] ECMG. Available at: https://earlymaths.org/a-mathematical-dogs-dinner-2/
Early Intervention Foundation, (2018). Key Competencies in Early Cognitive Development. Available at: https://www.eif.org.uk/report/key-competencies-in-early-cognitive-development-things-people-numbers-and-words
EdExec. (2019). Retention rate for teachers worsens. [online] Available at:
https://edexec.co.uk/retention-rate-for-teachers-worsens/
Guardian. (2017). Battle on the adverbials front: grammar advisers raise worries about Sats tests and teaching. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/may/09/fronted-adverbials-sats-grammar-test-primary
InsideGovernment (2019). Tackling the Teacher Recruitment Crisis: What’s Being Done? [online] Available at: https://blog.insidegovernment.co.uk/schools/blog/teacher-recruitment
James, M. (2018). National curriculum in England: The first 30 years, part 1. [online] Available at: https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/national-curriculum-in-england-the-first-30-years-part-1.
Millett, A. and Johnson, D. (2000). The role of the maths coordinator and the national numeracy strategy in England. Teacher Development, 4(3), pp.393-410.
Ofsted (2010). The National Strategies: a review of impact. London: Ofsted.
Rand (2008). Ten years of reform in primary mathematics education in England. Rand Europe. https://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR632.html