The future of primary maths education
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After the challenges we’ve seen in education over the past year or so, we’ve been speaking to teachers and leading maths experts on how they see the changes to teaching and learning impacting on the future of primary maths.
5–16 July 2021 saw the first ever virtual Pearson Maths Festival. We invited passionate maths teachers, thought leaders, subject experts, and students to celebrate and explore the power of maths through a series of collaborative discussions and speeches.
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Below is a summary of the Maths Festival sessions focused on primary maths.
Find out more about the Secondary Maths sessions and watch recordings
1. Post-COVID learning: what’s next?
With schools returning to normality and new routines being established, what impact has remote and blended learning had on our young people? The award-winning teacher, Nicola Whiston, talks about strategies to overcome ‘lost learning’ during the pandemic in the first episode of our podcast, The Right Angle.
In this session, Nicola discusses how she and her colleagues have settled back into their new normal alongside another Maths Leader, Rhiannon Rainbow. They discuss their experiences and findings of the impact that lockdown has had on student progress, particularly in maths, and their plans for the next academic year.
2. Digital maths education: what will the future look like?
This session features a panel of leading experts who are at the forefront of digital maths education: Dr Jamie Frost from Dr Frost Maths, Shira Helft from Desmos and Berwyn Jones from Pearson.
They discuss the impact COVID-19 has had over the last year, both in maths education as well as on their own platforms. They explore the current state of remote learning, from both educational and technology infrastructure perspectives; the current technology needs for educators; the latest features of their platforms; how their systems can support assessment for learning and what this means for maths education going forward.
3. Supporting learners to overcome maths anxiety
An important discussion with Dr Dominic Petronzi, Emma Cate Stokes and Rosie Sharp. They discuss the causes of maths anxiety and how we can combat it. The panel shares examples of research and strategies that have been used in school to reduce anxiety around maths for both parents and students. You will leave with a better understanding of the causes of maths anxiety, and how to go about supporting your students to overcome it.
4. Maths in the media with Bobby Seagull
Bobby Seagull has not let something like a global pandemic get in the way of his mission to change societal perceptions of mathematics. In this final session, Maths Subject Partner, Nicola Woodford-Smith, and Bobby discuss how popular media appearances such as Strictly Come Dancing and The Answer Trap are having a positive impact on the stigma around loving maths, and how popular culture plays its part in inspiring young people.
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Insights and feedback from school leaders and teachers help us to drive conversations and share ideas across the education community. We want to ensure that all of the biggest topics and challenges schools are facing right now are being discussed and supported.
Suzie Williams
Suzie Williams is part of the international schools team at Pearson. A graduate of the universities of Salford and Strathclyde in the UK, she has worked in education for over 20 years, is a former primary school governor, heads up the Pearson international schools blog and produces and directs the annual Pearson International School Leaders Conferences.