Upgrading mathematics knowledge among upper primary school teachers

Over the past couple of weeks there have been scare stories in various parts of the press suggesting that teachers in Scottish primary schools, especially those teaching upper primary classes, are seriously deficient in mathematics. The articles claim that they lack confidence in their ability to teach the Maths elements of the curriculum, with two thirds of primary teaching students at Dundee University allegedly unable to do primary 7 Maths themselves. If they don't have the content knowledge themselves, how can they possibly teach it to their pupils? A reasonable question.

Of course, the researchers who had carried out the investigation at the university have responded saying that their findings have been misinterpreted. But even if they have, the public perception of standards in Scottish schools has been influenced by a whole series of negative reports in recent years. You could be forgiven for thinking that Scottish performance, especially in Science and Mathematics, is declining by comparison with that of other countries.

In these circumstances it is interesting to read an article in the December 2009 issue of the journal, Professional Development in Education, which indicates that such concerns are not limited to Scotland and which evaluates a simple and inexpensive way of addressing them.

Laura Feuerborn and Donald Chinn of the University of Washington, Tacoma, USA, and Garvin Morlan, University Place School District in Washington state, responded to indications that students in the USA "may lack globally competitive mathematical skills" as revealed by the same measures (eg PISA and TIMMS studies) that have caused alarm in Scotland. Previous research had discovered evidence that teachers in their elementary and middle schools express a lack of confidence in their own conceptual understanding in Mathematics, thus making them less willing to encourage their pupils to explore mathematical ideas. It had also shown that, while it is possible to address this directly in pre-service training, there were fewer opportunities for teachers in service to improve their own content knowledge.

The researchers devised two five-day summer classes, one focusing on concepts relating to algebra and on basic processes such as fractions, decimals and rations, the second on geometric concepts and probability and statistics. What made these classes different was their delivery in a school by a highly regarded Mathematics teacher from a high school in the same school district as the participants. About 80% of teachers in the district with classes aged 11-14 attended at least one of the classes.

As might be expected given the pedagogical background of the tutor, the methods used were active and lively, with a strong emphasis on collaborative learning. Apart from enhancing the teachers' personal understanding of concepts (indicated by pre and post testing), the classes demonstrated to them how the knowledge they were imparting to their pupils underlay later work at high school, enabling the teachers to contextualise their own teaching more effectively. The evaluation also showed some interesting by-products:

  • a strong desire among participants to collaborate more with colleagues in future learning
  • the intention among most teachers to change their own classroom teaching practices to involve more group learning work and more emphasis on mastery learning of concepts before moving on to other work;
  • greater empathy with their own pupils, especially those struggling with the work; and
  • improved understanding of how to vary the learning experience to help it match the needs of individuals progressing at different rates.

The tutor noted that "the biggest benefit that teachers reported was what they learned from the act of being in the role of student again".

Though this was a small scale project involving fewer than fifty teachers, it gave encouraging outcomes. The authors conclude that the Mathematics content knowledge relevant to the needs of what would be in Scotland upper primary school teachers can be improved without major investment. They argue for the use of expert colleagues as tutors in natural settings such as local schools as a way of encouraging peer collaboration and facilitating the development of local professional learning communities.

This article is, to use the modern jargon, accessible. It also provides a potential common sense solution to an issue that is, in public perception if not in reality, as serious challenge to Scottish schools.

Details: L.L. Feuerborn, D. Chinn and G. Morlan, Improving mathematics' teachers content knowledge via brief in-service: a US case study, Professional Development in Education, vol.35, no.4, December 2009, pp 531-545.

Ian Matheson
Educational Planning and Research Officer
3 February 2010

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