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Post by Judy on Sept 7, 2020 8:03:27 GMT
In Singapore Maths they promote 'Teach Less, Learn More' . How do you think this approach would sit with our learners? Do we need to be explicit in everything we do, or should we let them find out for themselves?
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Becky
New Member
Posts: 23
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Post by Becky on Sept 7, 2020 17:21:58 GMT
I think this should be how it's taught in the UK. In primary, the curriculum is so so crowded that there is little time to do anything real justice. There is so much pressure on teachers to get learners to the expected level that proper teaching goes out of the window. A lot of teaching to the test, racing through really important concepts and not enough time to really explore them. Less is definitely more.
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Post by carolineh on Sept 7, 2020 20:20:15 GMT
I don't know much about Singapore Maths yet so I might be on the wrong track here, but in my dyslexia training we were encouraged to develop 'directed discovery' teaching.
So you present material to a pupil in a visually supportive way which prompts them to find the pattern for themselves.
Much more engaging and memorable than being told!
I think this is linked to the idea of embedding thinking skills too: you set up a situation which will stimulate interest and curiosity to promote experimentation and discussion.
Your aim is to provide just enough information so that your pupil builds their own understanding, and in this way their overall learning is much more significant?
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Post by Judy on Sept 8, 2020 13:56:53 GMT
Absolutely , Caroline. That is how I was trained by the Dyslexia Institute - many moons ago!I think the temptation maybe to 'tell' our struggling children how to do something and then we are at risk of robbing them of the joy of discovering it for themselves and having more ownership of their learning. Even if we have to hint so heavily that we are practically telling them, I still think there is great value in the discovery, not only because it makes the learning more memorable.
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Lina
New Member
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Post by Lina on Sept 9, 2020 20:07:49 GMT
I once told my senior leaders at school that you can teach most of the curriculum through Design and Technology. I said it half-jokingly because at the time I was the D&T coordinator, but I believe it. I'd much rather have the children doing rather than listening. It won't cover all the Maths curriculum, but it is a great way to problem-solve. I still remember the time when my primary teacher asked us a Maths question on a topic that she hadn't taught yet, so we had to work it out ourselves. It is the only lesson I remember, 36 years later.
Our system has created children who can achieve very well, but who are often fearful of a question that has not been structured and explained. It hasn't been very long ago that the OfSTED observations were focused on the teacher, not the children, so the teachers felt that they had to be the centre of attention, all-singing, all-dancing. We have theoretically moved away from that model, but it takes time to completely change the practice.
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Jenny
Junior Member
Posts: 50
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Post by Jenny on Sept 12, 2020 21:51:19 GMT
I think that a problem with some maths teaching in schools is that it is lots of teaching methods and the students just think that they have to copy what the teacher does. This can often mean that very little reasoning is going on and when the children have forgotten the methods, they have no experience of how to work things out for themselves. They can see maths as just a collection of procedures rather than a world of relationships to investigate. Exploring and experimenting are great in the Foundation Stage but children need it for longer than that, in order to build up mathematical understanding.
Having said that, there is a great debate between 'direct instruction' and 'discovery learning'. Craig Barton discusses this in detail and concludes that a balance is needed. He says there is a danger that, left to themselves,students tend only to use maths which they are comfortable with and not experiment with 'unfamiliar' maths.He quotes McKinsey, 'students who receive a blend of teacher-directed and inquiry-based instruction have the best outcomes.' I think 'teacher-directed' is a good term because that doesn't imply 'copy me' type teaching but covers exactly what good Foundation Stage teachers do, which is to provide resources and questions to prompt exploration, asking questions and supporting learners so that they make the connections which the teacher wants them to make.
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Post by Cath Wright on Sept 13, 2020 15:16:06 GMT
I agree with Jenny. There need to be a blend of discovery and teaching. Many of my student would say that it was too hard or boring and do struggle with self discovery. Most of my lessons are one to one so if they are struggling they will often give up to gentle hints are needed and even gentle hints and mild directions are not enough. It is trying to get a mix of achievement and motivation for a learner. I have a few student that have dyscalculia and dyslexia so I can only imagine how hard their school day is, every lesson is a challenge, especially now.
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Post by Judy on Sept 13, 2020 15:20:19 GMT
I also agree with you both- balance in all things and also an awareness of the different needs of different children. For some their confidence is so low that they need to be guided and explicitly instructed sometimes to help to boost their self esteem. They need to have the desire to discover the maths and that needs a certain level of confidence I think.
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