Conceptions of Excellence in Primary Mathematics Teaching

This research had two drivers: the persistent demand by policy makers for educators to achieve 'excellence' in teaching without defining what is meant nor agreeing how to achieve it; the paradoxes encountered by teachers across education who create their identity through a need to reconcile their personality, life stories, professionalism and the political agenda. The research question was 'How is excellence in primary mathematics teaching perceived by primary teachers and mathematics teacher educators in England?' and analysis drew upon literature about education, mathematics education and the theoretical perspectives of social constructivism and socioculturalism. An interpretative approach was adopted to explore understandings and beliefs about what comprises excellence in mathematics teaching. Data were gained from four groups: student, non-specialist and mathematics specialist teachers, and university mathematics education lecturers - through interviews which produced both narrative and mind-maps. These were analysed thematically. The analysis revealed and illuminated surprising and interesting new perspectives. The main outcomes were: three interwoven and interdependent themes (confidence, knowledge and supererogation) which contribute together to create excellent teaching in primary mathematics; two dichotomies exemplifying the complexities of teaching; and the unexpected emergence of 'good enough' being sufficient to meet targets. The three key themes will resonate with the teaching profession, providing an aid to articulating their embedded, implicit guild knowledge. The dichotomies and the notion of 'good enough' highlight the professional conundrums that teachers encounter. They have to reconcile their professional identity and beliefs with the exigencies of belonging to communities of practice as well as outside expectation and requirements. The research showed that excellence is an aspirational ideal, embodied in the child who is the product of excellent teaching. This research contributes to an understanding of factors impinging upon the development of excellent teaching (in mathematics education and beyond), thereby offering ways forward to educators and policy makers

The contribution of teacher confidence to ‘excellent’ mathematics teaching

This research had two drivers: the persistent demand by policy makers for educators to achieve ‘excellence’ in teaching without defining what is meant; the paradoxes encountered by teachers across education who need to reconcile their personal and professionalism identity, and the political agenda. The research question was ‘How is excellence in primary mathematics teaching perceived by primary mathematics teacher educators?’. Four different mathematics educator groups were interviewed producing narrative and mind-maps. An interpretative, thematic approach to analysis was adopted to explore understandings and beliefs. One outcome was three interwoven and interdependent themes - confidence, knowledge and supererogation -which contribute together to create excellent teaching in primary mathematics. The research showed that excellence is an aspirational ideal, embodied in the child who is the product of excellent teaching. This paper explores the role of primary school teachers’ confidence in teaching mathematics, capacity for improvement and the potential impact on the pupils

A Meccano® model of approaches to teaching mathematics

As teachers of teachers, we are keen to impress on our students (ITT and CPD) that teachers who are effective at teaching adopt a range of pedagogies that put the learner at the centre, combined with confident and flexible teaching (Williams, 2008). Therefore, as teachers of teachers, we need to adopt the same principles for our students. A device that has proved useful to examine mathematics teaching and apply to theorising research is to use an analogous model: the model construction system, Meccano®