Are you a primary school teacher in Ireland?
We are interested in gathering teachers’ beliefs about high-quality mathematics teaching, and exploring the factors that constrain innovative practice.
We are interested in gathering teachers’ beliefs about high-quality mathematics teaching, and exploring the factors that constrain innovative practice.
The Maths4All project, funded by Science Foundation Ireland, has been running since 2019. Members of the DCU Institute of Education work in collaboration with teachers to run activities such as webinars and TeachMeets. Our main purpose is to create opportunities for teachers to share and discuss their practice and find ways to enhance their teaching of maths.
As of Spring 2022, we are also delighted to collaborate with Clare Education Centre and the the Teachers’ Research Exchange to facilitate an online professional learning community.
The Maths4All website also presents high-quality activity plans, created for and with teachers, and video examples of mathematics teaching in Irish preschool and primary classrooms.
These activities were designed to align with the content of the draft specification of the new mathematics curriculum which was released for consultation in 2017/2018. The proposed curriculum suggests that the four elements of:
understanding and connecting
communicating
reasoning
applying and problem-solving
are central to mathematical learning. Each of the activity plans is structured to facilitate children’s engagement with these processes and elements.
The video clips provide opportunities for teachers to see good practice in action and also to facilitate reflection on teacher practices that are relevant across all mathematics activities and all age groups. Professional development materials relating to the use of tasks and talk in mathematical activities are also provided.