You are probably on your local Maths Hub mailing list and see the links to the many Work groups on offer. Most Work Groups have a specific focus or time period and are about collaborative sustained learning within nationally set parameters.
Core Maths is different (of course – it’s always a bit different!). There are two offers from the Maths Hubs, both supported by AMSP:
New To Teaching Core Maths Programme and Developing Core Maths pedagogy Work Group
Your local Maths Hub might run one of these but point you towards another Maths Hub for the other one, especially if you particularly want to be online, face to face, or the timings just don’t work. If you are not sure what is on offer, contact your Maths Hub.
New To Teaching Core Maths Programme
These six workshops are designed to support staff in their first or second year of teaching Core Maths. The programme focuses on the pedagogy of teaching this exciting and transformative course and includes how to begin teaching six of the main themes of Core Maths, although there is some subject knowledge development too, and participants have access to materials to try out in the classroom.
It is a programme rather than a workshop as it aims to support the individual rather than the wider school.
Developing Core Maths pedagogy Work Group
The Work Groups are a little different. The aim is to explore Core Maths pedagogy and share ideas, resources, and approaches as well as the opportunity to collaborate on aspects of teaching. However, there isn’t a centrally agreed programme for each session.
You might be online, face to face, or a blend. You might have short sessions or full days. You might have input to the sessions, perhaps taking turns to share resources, and you will determine the direction of the group.
The flexibility makes these much more about a focus on current needs and more of a chance to plan, discuss and steer the conversations to the what, how, when, or what with… or to be more philosophical.
In my last session we used this prompt:
What makes a Core Maths lesson different to other maths lessons?
What might you see students doing more of?
What might you see students doing less of?
And what about the teacher?
These are the aspects I thought might come up, although it isn’t a complete list – is there ever a complete list when talking about teaching?
| Happens more often | About the same | Happens less often | |
| Students | Discuss the context behind the task Consider assumptions Interpreting data Create their own questions within a context Use technology as a tool | Set work out logically Think about degrees of accuracy Select the maths skill for the task Use vocabulary accurately | Calculate mentally Practice algebraic simplification Crunch data for diagrams and measures Formal geometrical reasoning |
| Teachers | Pose ‘what if’ questions Set tasks that have multiple end points Choose a stimulus to encourage exploration in multiple directions Make connections between topics and other subjects, and the real world | Choose relevant contexts Structure the lesson to build understanding Revisit prior knowledge Make connections between mathematical topics | Set tasks using ‘sanitised’ data Set simplified or anonymised ‘maths world’ tasks Use exercises of questions out of context |
Here’s what the (experienced) teachers thought:
| Happens more often | About the same | Happens less often | |
| Students | Bringing their own experiences and thoughts to debates around a topic Group work Looking at situations and analysing what is going on More contextual work | Use of some concepts Mathematical content Work on understanding Problem solving Sometimes Core Maths lessons are similar to other maths lessons and sometimes very different | Learning new mathematical concepts Lots of deliberate practice |
| Teachers | Encouraging debate and bringing in other topics etc to help support answers Facilitating discussion and activity | Use of some concepts Mathematical content Work on understanding Problem solving Sometimes Core Maths lessons are similar to other maths lessons and sometimes very different | Demonstration of workings etc – I do/we do Less standing at the board each lesson |
What would this look like in your school?
Would you agree with all of the suggestions or only some, or none?
Maybe you could have this discussion as part of a meeting, even if it’s only brief – and you could use a similar prompt for comparing KS3 and GCSE, or GCSE and A level.
What are the things you and your team keep as essential elements throughout your teaching, and what changes depending on the age or qualification?