Teacher Fellowships and the Mathematics TeacherAuthor(s): Ron Anderson and Neil StrakerSource: Mathematics in School, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 12-13Published by: The Mathematical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30213935 .

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StFELO

and the

IMATHEMATICV TEACHER

by

Ron Anderson, Kenton School, Newcastle upon Tyne

Neil Straker, School of Education, University of Newcastle upon Tyne

Chapter 15 of the Cockcroft Report covers the importance of in-service support to mathematics teachers. Various courses and ways of improving qualifications are men- tioned, but one which is not, and is worthy of consideration, is the Teacher Fellowship. Although it does not provide any formal qualifications, it does have many advantages to recommend it.

From the teacher's point of view it gives the opportunity of a break from the routines of school, a chance to stand back and evaluate, and most important, the time to do research, think about teaching methods and innovate. The teacher becomes a link between his/her employers (the LEA) on the one hand and the local University or Polytech- nic on the other. Involvement with a Department of Education gives the teacher the chance to become familiar with, and participate in, the running of the department. This can involve lecturing to PGCE students which can benefit both the students and the teacher, being totally different to teaching in school. Depending upon the choice of study it also gives the chance to become involved with industry and commerce, and with teachers in other schools (both recommended by Cockcroft) either through visits or in-service courses, and to become familiar with practices outside of the teacher's school, or indeed teaching. A Fellowship can be as short as one term or as long as three; the latter probably being a more satisfactory period of study for a course in which everyone, the LEA, the University or Polytechnic and especially the teacher, gains a great deal.

Having just completed a one term Teacher Fellowship, we felt that it would be of value to try to pass on some of the benefits of the experience. The basis of the Fellowship was research into the teaching of the Cockcroft "Foundation List" to the lowest attainers in the fourth and fifth years at

Secondary School (it would be interesting to compare with the results of the Government sponsored schemes). This concerned primarily Paragraphs 458 (the List), 243 (math- ematics teaching should include opportunities for, expo- sition, discussion, practical work, consolidation and practice, problem solving and investigational work), and 462 (****We believe that this points out in a very succinct way the need - which is by no means confined to courses for lower attaining pupils - to relate the content of the mathematical course to the pupil's experience of everyday life), and to produce a scheme of work based upon these. The emphasis of the scheme of work was to be on the mathematics related to real life (Para. 462), but taking it one stage further and relating it to local real life.

Given the time usually denied to the classroom teacher, approaches were made to various banking organisations, building societies, insurance companies and various com- panies to try and benefit from their expertise, and to use that expertise to try to produce a scheme of work. There are many possible choices of topics, and the ones chosen were purely personal based on the requirements of life and the Foundation List.

Fourth Year SURVIVAL NUMERACY

Money Management

Spending, Saving, Borrowing, Earnings, Offtakes.

Getting to Work

Timetables, using maps, give directions, bearings, co-ordinates, scale, time.

12 Mathematics in School, January 1985

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Pay for purchases, %, best buy, weigh and measure, simple flow charts, graphs.

Post Office

Time, weights, costing, %, variation, reading information, savings.

Holidays

Time, best buy, costing, %, exchange.

Buying a Car/Bike

Running costs, m.p.g., simple rates, %, graphs, best buy, variation.

Insurance (House/Life/Motor)

%, best buy, investment.

Fifth Year

BUYING/RENTING A HOUSE

Scale Drawing

Draw simple plane figures, scale, perimeters & area of rectangle, parallel and perpendicular.

Shape of a House

Volumes of rectangular solids, model making, recognition of terms parallel/perpendicular circumference, pi.

Running Costs

Gas, electricity, insulation, graphs, metres, best buy, money problems.

Furnishing a House

Fitting furniture into a room, buying (new/second hand), scale, complex money problems.

The words that are underlined in the tables are the topic headings, and beneath each heading are the parts that make up that topic, together with the parts of the "Foundation List" that they cover. Survival Numeracy means the basic numeracy needed to survive in the world outside of school, and of necessity, the numeracy required (and the numeracy that will be reinforced) by the rest of the course. There are many textbooks dealing with numeracy that can be utilised; micro-computers and electronic aids (Little Professor etc.) can be used if available, and television programmes (such as Maths Counts - BBC) are also produced. Micro- computers, electronic aids and television programmes can serve the purpose of "breaking up" the usual format of lessons and create interest. This is the intention of the course - not to replace the usual methods of teaching, but to add interest to them by injecting relevant material to which the pupils can relate and a variety of approaches as referred to in paragraph 243 of the Cockcroft Report. The problem with teaching numeracy, whatever method is employed, is that research indicates that little or no progress will be made in learning "arithmetic skills" in the 14-16 year age group. If the skills are presented alongside concept building and problem solving techniques, however, it is possible that the skills will be retained as the concept is grasped and reinforced in various ways. That is the premise upon which the rest of the course was built.

Every child should know about money management, as it is the one thing they cannot avoid when they leave school. The report Adults' Mathematical Ability and Performance (Advisory Council for Adult and Continuing Education -

1982), would suggest that there is still room for improve- ment in this area. Unfortunately it is an area that should be covered by both the mathematics and business studies

departments, but would seem to be covered satisfactorily by neither. The topic cries out for inter-departmental co- operation, as part of a "mathematics across the curriculum" policy.

The five projects are units in themselves and can be taken independently, although it is better if Buying a Car precedes Insurance and they directly follow each other. The five are meant to be used to provide variation within the year's work. Wherever possible projects were designed with the pupil's environment in mind so as to give more relevance to the work. This meant, for example, that in the project Getting to Work, local timetables, fares and maps would be used. Such a local emphasis is obviously not feasible if textbooks are used. In almost all of the projects there is a need for a constant updating (say on a 2 yearly basis) of the factual information. Five topics were chosen but others such as Marketing (layout of supermarkets etc.), Sports and Do-it-Yourself can be added if time or interest allows. Two projects were allowed for each of the first two terms and one for the final term when there is usually some form of school assessment. This of course is a matter of personal opinion and only personal application will decide how workable the scheme is. The five projects can be used either alongside or instead of money manage- ment and numeracy, to provide a complete break, again a matter of personal choice.

The next four projects are grouped together under the one title Buying/Renting a House, the idea being that for a large part of the final two terms the pupils should do a larger project which will involve more individual investiga- tional work (it also means that time off for work experience etc. will not affect the course of study). The larger project involves Planning a Housing Estate (on the school site), Furnishing a House and possibly Building a Model House. This combines with the two smaller projects (Run- ning Costs, Shape) that can be introduced at any time during the two terms. The house plans were provided by a local builder who also promised access for the pupils to show-houses and estates (allowing comparison with pro- fessionals). The Gas and Electricity Boards were very helpful in providing information, as indeed were most of the agencies approached. The amount of material available from outside agencies for use in the classroom was surpris- ingly large, and is undoubtedly an untapped source.

We have tried in a few words to describe the sort of things that can be done in one term on a Teacher Fellowship. No doubt many mathematics teachers have "pet" projects which they would like to develop if they were given the time and the opportunity. A Teacher Fellowship can offer both, along with guidance if necessary (even if it just provides someone to throw ideas at and get a response). Falling rolls and the cutting of budgets have been blamed for an ageing profession and a "stagnation" within it. A Teacher Fellow- ship does not make you any younger, but it can certainly re- awaken your interest, and make you think about teaching methods and content at a time when they may have become a matter of habit.

As for the project itself; a lot of work is being done in the area of low achievers but very little has percolated through into school practice. Graded tests are widely suggested as a means of motivation, as they may be, but they do not overcome the problems of making work relevant. Geoffrey Howson (TES 4/11/83) has put forward some very good suggestions, as has Douglas Quadling (TES re Prospects, Vol. XII, No. 4, 1982. Unesco.). We have made our sugges- tions and now await the results of further classroom trials in order to modify and expand the material into a form which other teachers can use.

Mathematics in School, January 1985 13

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