Written by Lucy Rycroft-Smith A research talk by any other name might an audience deplete How do you decide which sessions to go to at a conference? Two methods commonly employed are to look at session titles, and the names of those presenting (indeed, this may be all you have to go on). Some twenty-five years ago, Salager-Meyer (1991) argued that because of the … [Read more...]
What’s the point of the professional skills tests?
Written by Gwen Ineson What’s the point of the professional skills tests? I qualified as a teacher in 1995, five years before the statutory professional skills test came into effect – which I’m very pleased about as I don’t know how I would have fared in these tests! In this blog I will provide some context about what these tests are, why they were introduced, and why I think … [Read more...]
Language development and mathematics learning through mathematical stories
Written by Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai. Setting the scene ... Over the past decades, research has consistently shown that mathematics ability and language ability are closely linked. In our recent research (Trakulphadetkrai, Courtney, Clenton, Treffers-Daller, & Tsakalaki, 2017), my colleagues and I, for example, found that language ability (as measured by reading … [Read more...]
Bold Beginnings: a missed opportunity?
Written by Sue Gifford Ofsted’s 2017 report, Bold beginnings: The Reception curriculum in a sample of good and outstanding primary schools, begins by arguing that the Reception Year is ‘a missed opportunity’ for many children, leaving them ‘exposed to all the painful and unnecessary consequences of falling behind their peers’. This was hardly likely to win the hearts and … [Read more...]
Integrating dynamic technologies in secondary maths – what do teachers need to know?
One of a series of blogs on ‘building and sustaining active research collaborations with teachers of mathematics’ Written by Alison Clark-Wilson and Celia Hoyles: A recent research study, Developing teachers' mathematical knowledge using digital technology funded by the Nuffield Foundation has concluded aspects of the particular new knowledge and pedagogies that are demanded … [Read more...]