Mathematics is Core to Learning – Kaupapa and Shared Pedagogy
Where do I begin? In Te Ao Māori, Mathematics and Numbers come naturally in all facets, but how do we teach it so we achieve the higher thinking order for both our students and within our learning as teachers?
Today MPI culminated what I had hoped is normalised teaching and learning in our environment, but also highlighted some of the ‘misunderstood’ habits I have attained since switching between the roles of Leadership and Classroom Teaching.
So, reflecting on the goals of MPI today gives me an opportunity to reflect and to think critically. I’d like to think that there is a purpose to my learning and then fill the gaps in my knowledge and thinking.
This is an important reminder that there is most certainly a purpose to our Professional Learning.
Dorothy Burt reminded us of the role teachers play in the innovation of Effective Teaching Accelerated Learning. In the early days of Manaiakalani, there were many early adopters who with the (Now) primitive nature of Technology still managed to find ways to engage students with Mathematical and Statistical learning.
During today’s session, my understanding of the kaupapa increased as I discovered more about Jessen’s (2013) point of ‘The notion of acceleration” in terms of increasing the pace of progress, but the part which resonated is the part of her quote which comes from “To achieve acceleration, your students need to learn at rates that are higher than average, so that they “catch up” Jesson, 2013.
This inevitably comes from what we as learners, teachers and leaders expect from our learners. Our expectations need to be responsive, relevant and accelerated, but I also advocate that it needs to be contextual to allow growth in our learning communities too.
The Pillars of Practise has become common language, which I have heard about through those who are doing or have completed RPI (Reading Practice Intensive). I consider this an issue across the curriculum as there is no common language or framework. From school to school, we all have localised language or terms, and in some instances localised language which differs from class to class. How do we factor this in when students move on to other classes? The Pillars will be the foundation of our learning along with the pedagogy of all of this.
Following on from this, I think students can make huge gains over time, but it also needs to be consistent, applied, monitored and reviewed. The hard discussions need to be had and ownership of the learning needs to be clarified.
What does a ‘good’ Mathematician look like?
- Think logically – have a process
- Relate problem to known context
- Know numbers
- Have lots of strategies to solve problems with understanding
Each could argue the point, but what amazes me is the fact that this could also be applied across the other curriculum areas.
What Makes A Good Mathematician? 
Learners also need to be engaged with what they are learning. Making this contextual and interesting will become a highlight.
With reflecting on today’s session, I’ve often thought of myself as a confident and capable Mathematician until one year whilst having Professional Development imposed on me without the grounding of getting to know me or what I had been doing prior to this professional development. I think making a connection and expressing Maths visually would have been a much better way to make the learning relevant for me and most certainly my practice. I feel I am strong in my capability with Maths, but now it will be my confidence to teach this that will be a core part of my learning here.
There are many resources found today that will be useful to implement, but for my own development, I’m taking some much needed reading from Kazemi, E. et al. (2016) ‘Listening to and Learning from Student Thinking’ which talks about how I need to give students time to voice their understanding and their strategy to allow me to better understand their thinking and their confusions. It also prioritises gathering data about and with students to ensure equity occurs.
Growth Mindset – As with all the learning we have previously learned, I have always taken what resonates with me or what makes me connect to deepen my understanding and with my cultural lens implement it into our context, with the understanding that students will critically think and ask questions to understand it themselves. This means … sometimes we have to unlearn stuff and then learn new habits. Speed is not Important, so learners have time to clarify, understand, process and articulate their learning.
Wharehuia Milroy, “Tuwhitia te hopo, mairangatia te angitū!
Feel the fear and do it anyway!