Podcast Summary
Maths: A Source of Love and Anxiety for Educators: Educators face personal challenges and technical issues when teaching maths, but remain dedicated to fostering positive mindsets in students
Teaching maths can be a source of both love and anxiety for educators. David and Laura, the hosts of Inside Voices, share their personal experiences of feeling overwhelmed by the expectations of perfect performances during events like Remembrance Assembly, as well as the technical challenges of getting audio systems to work. They also reflect on their own experiences of learning maths during their training and how they've grown to appreciate its value. Later in the episode, they will be joined by a maths education expert to discuss various approaches to teaching numeracy. Despite the challenges, they remain committed to creating inquisitive and positive mindsets towards maths in their students.
Misplaced in math classes impacted speaker's confidence: Understanding concepts, not just memorizing facts, is key to math success. Educators should support students' unique learning styles.
Sometimes, being placed in the wrong educational track can significantly impact a student's confidence and understanding in a subject. The speaker in this conversation shared her experience of being misplaced in math classes during her high school years, which left her feeling lost and unsure of her abilities. This experience carried over into her university education, where she struggled with memorization-heavy subjects like times tables due to her poor memory. However, a chance encounter with a helpful lecturer shifted her perspective. The lecturer explained that modern teaching methods focus on understanding the concepts behind the math, rather than memorizing facts. This revelation allowed the speaker to embrace her unique learning style and find success in subjects that once seemed insurmountable. It's essential for educators to be aware of students' individual learning needs and provide them with the appropriate resources and support to thrive.
Relying too heavily on memorization in primary school can hinder understanding of complex math concepts in high school: Memorization alone may not be enough to grasp complex math concepts, emphasizing the importance of developing a deep understanding of underlying principles.
Memorization of mathematical processes in primary school may hinder students' understanding of complex mathematical concepts in high school. The speaker shared their personal experience of relying too heavily on memorization in primary school, which left them struggling to grasp the concepts when they encountered more difficult math problems in high school. They also mentioned that they were intimidated by their classmates who seemed to understand math effortlessly, which further eroded their confidence. The speaker emphasized that having a "math sprain" or not is a myth, and that everyone can learn math with proper conceptual understanding and patience. They also highlighted the importance of enjoying and focusing on areas of learning that come naturally, but not neglecting the more challenging subjects. The speaker's experience underscores the importance of teaching mathematical concepts in a way that goes beyond rote memorization and encourages students to develop a deep understanding of the underlying principles.
Personal story of struggling with mathematical concepts and finding effective teaching methods: Effective teaching methods, like visualizing concepts as Lego towers, can help students truly understand complex mathematical concepts instead of just memorizing formulas.
Effective teaching methods and the evolution of educational approaches have significantly impacted the speaker's ability to understand and teach complex mathematical concepts. The speaker shares a story about a classmate who held the top math score in their school, and the speaker admires this niche achievement. The speaker also discusses their personal struggle with understanding mathematical concepts, particularly the concept of carrying numbers over in addition. They explain that they had a hard time grasping this concept until they learned to partition numbers and visualize them as Lego towers. This new approach made the concept clearer and helped the speaker appreciate the importance of understanding the underlying concepts, rather than just memorizing formulas. The speaker also touches on the importance of adapting to new teaching methods and acknowledges that the old methods, like rote memorization, are no longer effective in today's educational landscape. Overall, the speaker's experience highlights the importance of finding effective teaching methods and adapting to new approaches in order to help students truly understand complex concepts.
A new approach to teaching math: Concrete, visual, abstract: Modern math education focuses on conceptual understanding using concrete materials, visual aids, and abstract concepts to make math more accessible and relatable for students, particularly neurodivergent ones, and enable their application across various disciplines and everyday life situations.
Modern math education places greater emphasis on conceptual understanding over rote memorization and problem-solving through concrete and visual means. This approach, which includes using manipulatives like Legos and Play-Doh, as well as visual aids, is designed to make math more accessible and relatable for students, particularly those who are neurodivergent. The concrete approach helps students physically understand mathematical concepts, while the visual approach reinforces these concepts through pictures and drawings. The ultimate goal is to enable students to apply math across various disciplines and everyday life situations. This three-pronged approach to teaching math, which starts with concrete materials, moves on to visual aids, and finally abstract concepts, is a shift from the traditional rote memorization methods and aims to make math more engaging and effective for students.
Visualize and Explain Math Concepts: Encourage students to visualize problems, explain their strategies, and choose preferred methods for math calculations to reduce anxiety and foster creativity and critical thinking skills.
Effective math teaching goes beyond just focusing on technical calculations and instead emphasizes visualization, explanation, and the use of multiple strategies. According to the speaker, using the term "sum" for anything other than adding calculations can be confusing for students, especially when learning word problems. Instead, teachers should encourage students to visualize problems in their minds and on paper, and eventually, move towards abstract problem-solving. Furthermore, teachers should allow students to choose their preferred strategies for solving calculations, as long as they can explain their thought process. This approach not only reduces anxiety but also fosters creativity and critical thinking skills. The key is to prioritize clear explanations over adherence to a single strategy. By embracing multiple methods and encouraging students to discuss their understanding, we can create a more inclusive and effective math learning environment.
From inner city London classrooms to university curriculum leadership - Craig Lother's journey in maths education: Motivate students, keep context simple, recognize sequencing, and apply neuroscience for effective maths teaching
Effective maths teaching has evolved significantly over the years, with a greater emphasis on understanding how children learn mathematics and utilizing neuroscience to inform instruction. Craig Lother, a maths expert with extensive experience, shared his journey from teaching maths in inner city London to his current role as a curriculum leader at the University of Highlands and Islands. He highlighted the importance of motivating students and keeping the learning context simple to maximize working memory and facilitate long-term memory encoding. Craig also mentioned the significance of recognizing the sequencing of topics and the steps in learning, as well as the importance of neuroscience in understanding how the brain processes and retains new information. Overall, Craig's insights underscore the importance of adapting teaching methods to meet the unique needs of students and leveraging current research to create engaging and effective maths learning experiences.
Understanding Stages of Math Development for Effective Teaching: Mastery learning, rooted in understanding students' development stages, fosters positive attitudes towards math and learning, leading to lifelong benefits.
Effective math teaching and learning is rooted in understanding the stages of development and structuring learning accordingly. This approach, known as mastery learning, believes that everyone can master math, regardless of their background or perceived abilities. The speaker shared her experiences of teaching in inner-city London, where she encountered challenges in reaching families with limited educational backgrounds and encouraging their children to continue learning beyond compulsory education. She emphasized the importance of lifelong learning and the role of educators and communities in fostering positive attitudes towards math and learning. Mastery learning and a growth mindset towards math can lead to numerous benefits, including improved health, success, and higher wages.
A shift in math education approach for better engagement: New Scottish primary math textbooks prioritize conceptual understanding and problem-solving over rote memorization and formulae to make math more engaging and accessible to students.
The way math education is approached can greatly impact students' perception and engagement with the subject. David shared his personal experience of struggling with math in school due to a lack of conceptual understanding and being taught solely through memorization and formulae. However, during his PGDE, his lecturers recognized his mathematical abilities and encouraged him to focus on conceptual understanding instead. This shift in approach is reflected in the new primary math textbooks in Scotland, which include fewer calculations and more active, open-ended challenges. The team behind the textbooks designed them with flexibility and effective learning sequences in mind, recognizing that not all teaching styles are the same. By focusing on conceptual understanding and problem-solving, these textbooks aim to make math more engaging and accessible to students.
Embracing Misconceptions as Learning Opportunities: Effective teaching involves understanding students' learning journey, addressing misconceptions, and providing resources. Misconceptions are natural, embrace them as opportunities to expand learning. Use 'Let's Learn' approach, textbooks, workbooks, deliberate spaced practice, and avoid cramming.
Effective teaching involves understanding where students are in their learning journey, addressing any misconceptions they may have, and providing resources to support their understanding. According to the speaker, misconceptions are a natural part of the learning process and should be embraced as opportunities to expand learning. The "Let's Learn" approach is based on research and best practices for structuring learning, often referencing resources to accommodate various classroom settings. The use of textbooks and workbooks can be beneficial for learners, especially in helping them overcome layout barriers. The speaker emphasizes that learning new concepts requires deliberate spaced practice to help solidify the memory. This means that if students can demonstrate their understanding after a few questions, it's important for teachers to follow up with additional practice to prevent forgetting. The speaker also shares that research shows that students can effectively learn new concepts after just a few questions, and that cramming information right before an exam is not an effective long-term learning strategy.
Deliberate practice with spaced repetition: Effective math learning involves consistent practice and review to help the brain remember concepts. Teachers can incorporate spaced practice in the classroom for optimal learning.
Effective math learning involves deliberate practice with spaced repetition. This means practicing a concept, then recalling and practicing it again after a few days, helping the brain to remember. The more we practice something, the better we remember it. The forgetting curve, which is the rate at which we forget information without practice, highlights the importance of consistent review. In the classroom, teachers can incorporate spaced practice into their teaching by adding a review station for students to practice previously learned concepts. Looking to the future, a vision for math education is to focus on both functional and specialist math skills, fostering a growth mindset towards learning mathematics and ensuring students have the necessary skills for everyday life. Additionally, reducing the fear of getting things wrong and encouraging exploration can lead to a more positive learning experience.
Collaboration among teachers improves teaching quality and work-life balance: Teachers collaborating through team teaching or social media platforms can share ideas, resources, and lesson plans, leading to better lessons and a more engaging classroom experience. Acronyms in education can be frustrating but also useful shorthand for complex concepts.
Collaboration among teachers can significantly improve teaching quality, reduce workload, and create a positive work-life balance. Teachers around the world have shown that planning and learning together can lead to better lessons and a more engaging classroom experience. This can be achieved through formal team teaching or informal collaboration through social media platforms. By sharing ideas, resources, and lesson plans, teachers can learn from each other and enhance their practice. The use of acronyms in education is another topic that was touched upon, with some expressing frustration over the abundance of acronyms in the profession. However, it was also acknowledged that these acronyms can be useful shorthand for complex concepts and can facilitate communication among teachers. Overall, the conversation highlighted the importance of collaboration, both in person and online, as a means of continuous learning and improvement in education.
Acronyms: Clear or Confusing?: Using clear language instead of acronyms can prevent misunderstandings and make communication more effective.
The use of acronyms in communication can be confusing, especially when dealing with regional dialects or unfamiliar terms. The speaker shared an experience of encountering misunderstandings when using acronyms with individuals from different regions, leading to a need for clarification. They also expressed frustration with the unnecessary use of acronyms for common terms, such as "class teacher" (CT) or "educational psychologist" (EP), which could be clearly stated in full. The speaker concluded by expressing their frustration with the prevalence of acronyms and encouraged listeners to use clear language instead. In the upcoming episode of "Inside Voices," they plan to discuss the arts and primary schools, and reminded listeners to express themselves authentically using their "Inside Voices."
