Explain What Constitutes Best Practice In The Teaching Of Maths

Consider what you have observed, read and experienced about teaching and learning to date. What, in your view, constitutes best practice in the teaching of maths?

Introduction

Mathematics is an important subject in the National Curriculum, in England. Ofsted (2012) quotes “Mathematics is essential for everyday life and understanding our world”. It is a creative subject with its own questions and methods. In every aspect of everyday activities, Mathematics is used daily from reading the time, shopping, planning budgets to designing houses. Ollerton (2006, p18) describes two different perspectives of Mathematics in his introduction, one being “beautiful, intriguing, elegant, logical, amazing and mind-blowing” and the other view “frightening,

This is backed up by Johnston-Wilder et al (2005) who illustrates that a good lesson plan may help to ensure that learning will occur during the lesson and makes lessons interesting, challenging and motivating. A well-planned and structured lesson has starter activities, plenary as well as main activities. In my observations of lessons, starter tasks help students to get their brain ready for learning in the lesson, especially when coming from a different type of lesson i.e. History. The plenary task ensures students have acquired the outcomes of the lesson and to aid the planning for the next lesson. This is illustrated in Ofsted’s (2009) report that the learning is extended during the plenary and allows their needs, from the lesson, to be

In some groups, she discovered that some students naturally extended themselves and in this way, they might have achieved more than they would, if they had worked individually. Students learn to reason about their strategies and follow the reasoning of others which develops important skills in the communication of mathematical thinking, (Anghileri, 2006). Ofsted (2009) asserts that features of good mathematics teaching, which involve all pupils, are when respect is given to all pupil contributions and students listen and respond to comments made by their peers. Some teachers argue that their classrooms are not designed for group work. In most instances, this can be overcome by re-arranging the classroom furniture or students can turn their chairs around to work with the student(s) in the row behind