Explain this
Even Better Mathematics: Looking Back to Move Forward
How the publisher describes it:
“Based on a project involving extensive classroom-based action research, this book looks at how teachers can improve students' achievement, attitudes, confidence and interest in mathematics. It is suitable for those concerned with mathematics education at all levels.”
Review by Liz Woodham
In brief:
Although written from a secondary perspective, I would thoroughly recommend this book to teachers in all phases, as the vast majority of the discussion is applicable no matter what age children you teach.
“I defy you to read this book and not be inspired!”
This book is summarised by its sub-title: ‘Looking back to move forward’. The content is based on Better Mathematics (1987), the report of the Low Attainers in Mathematics Project (LAMP), which ran from 1983 to 1986. Twelve teacher-researchers from six local authorities were involved in LAMP. They were released one day a week to meet together and work collaboratively, one of the main goals being to change perceptions about how low attainers learn mathematics. However, many more teachers throughout the authorities became involved with the project through courses and via colleagues.
The authors suggest that the core principles and ideas of LAMP are still relevant in the current climate, despite a host of initiatives implemented since its original publication. Rather than reading like a report as such, this book aims to share the experiences of the teachers involved. Each chapter focuses on one of the significant features of the project’s work:
- Children learning mathematics
- Aims and actions
- Teacher development
- Widespread, sustained curriculum development
- Schemes
- Working across the curriculum
- Evaluating and assessing mathematics
- Parents and carers
I defy you to read this book and not be inspired! It is easy to read and is firmly contextualised in everyday classroom practice. A large part of the narrative is formed from teachers’ quotes and these eloquently reveal the issues, never shying away from the tensions that we are faced with in the classroom. The author’s commentary helps to highlight the key points and each chapter ends with a summary of the situation and recommendations.
Throughout the book, important statements are numbered 1 to 35 and highlighted in bold, which I found very helpful. There are also suggestions about how the book could be used as a professional development resource. This is particularly useful, I think, as it encourages us to engage with the book in an active way with colleagues, rather than simply reading it and then putting it on one side, only to be forgotten about subsequently.
Although written from a secondary perspective, I would thoroughly recommend this book to teachers in all phases, as the vast majority of the discussion is applicable no matter what age children you teach. I end with a quote to whet your appetite:
“Mathematics is effectively learned only by experimenting, questioning, reflecting, discovering, inventing and discussing. Thus, for children, mathematics should be a kind of learning which requires a minimum of factual knowledge and a great deal of experience in dealing with situations using particular kinds of thinking skills.”
Liz Woodham • NRICH Primary Coordinator
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Network Continuum Education (11 Oct 2007)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1855391473
ISBN-13: 978-1855391475
Product Dimensions: 29.6 x 20.6 x 0.8 cm
