Leading staff development in primary mathematics
March 2006
Introduction
To read a one-page summary of this RoM, go to the overview.
This month we are featuring some of the findings from a major five-year study into the teaching and learning of mathematics in British primary schools. The work is derived from the Leverhulme Numeracy Research Programme, a six-strand study which began in 1997 to investigate primary school mathematics teaching at a time of national and international concern about standards of children’s achievement in the subject. It coincided with the introduction, in England and Wales, of the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) in 1999/2000 and therefore offers a unique perspective on what it was like for teachers on the ground as they began to implement the new requirements. The first volume in a set of four is:
Millett, A. Brown, M. & Askew, M. (eds.) (2004) Primary Mathematics and the developing professional Dordrecht: Kluwer
The book focuses on the professional development of teachers in mathematics and includes insights into the successes and challenges for effective practice encountered by primary mathematics co-ordinators and school leaders in a variety of primary settings.
Most primary practitioners are full-time class teachers with a particular subject responsibility. The RoM will be of interest to primary teachers in their roles as subject co-ordinators, a role that has gone through marked changes over the past decade, from that of supportive colleague to that of recognised ‘expert’, responsible for monitoring the standard of teaching and learning in their subject. It offers insights into more (and less) effective ways of supporting the professional development of colleagues. It will also be of interest to school leaders, as it clarifies the nature of support that subject co-ordinators need from their head teacher in order to pursue their roles effectively. Although the project plans to report in more depth on the nature of teaching and learning in primary mathematics in forthcoming volumes, this RoM also includes insights into effective aspects of practice in the teaching of primary mathematics in both the main text and the case studies which follow.
You may also wish to refer to the April 2003 RoM, Effective teachers of numeracy. This summarised earlier work by members of the same team of researchers at King’s College London.
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