© Copyright M. Worthington & E. Carruthers 2012 |
Pedagogy:
- Teachers questionnaires: two hundred
and seventy three teachers of children 3 8 years completed questionnaires about
childrens mathematical marks and written mathematics. The teachers came
from four areas of England three cities and one rural county
- Telephone interviews: we conducted
interviews with a sample of teachers who had completed questionnaires, allowing us to
explore aspects of teachers beliefs and practice conferencing childrens
mathematical graphics;
- Nursery study India: conducted in
nursery and primary schools in rural southern India, focusing on teaching
- Study to compare teacher-modelling and
teacher-given examples in one of our own classrooms children 4 5 years of
age
- Assessing the contribution of
teacher-modelling on childrens developing mathematical graphics. We assessed the
effects of teacher-modelling mathematics for genuine purposes during the course of one
term, with children 5 6 years of age;
- Creativity and
mathematics: teachers’ perspectives.
Creativity and mathematics: we
explored teachers’ and practitioners' perceptions of creativity
in mathematics through questionnaires with over 200 teachers
across England.
Reflecting on creativity and cognitive
challenge.
-
Cambridge Nursery Mathematics Learning
Network:
Nursery teachers and practitioners
monitoring and understanding the development of children's
learning as they progress towards standard abstract symbols and
standard written calculations, and analyse and promote the
pedagogy that underpins deep level learning in mathematics.
-
Researching Effective CPD in Mathematics
Education (RECME): (2007 - 2009). We are delighted
that the Researchers identified many positive aspects of
Children’s Mathematics Network Groups as a powerful means of
CPD. These findings confirm our own beliefs in teachers and
practitioners:
- to
co-construct pedagogical theories and understanding of
children’s mathematical thinking
- in the
importance of collaborative dialogue
- in the
significance of research for teachers - and in teachers as
researchers
- in the need
to trust teachers and to give them back their
professionalism in order to empower them
- of the value
of ‘grassroots’ networks ‘owned’ and shaped by the teachers
and practitioners themselves
The findings also
support the success of local CM Network groups in supporting
high levels of children’s mathematical thinking and contributing
to deepening understanding of the standard abstract symbolism of
written mathematics. This is captured in a comment from the
RECME research team: ‘The standard of the mathematical
understanding, thinking and reasoning was far higher than the
specified curriculum objectives for children of this age’.
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