Cathy Smith and Charlotte Webb discuss the Open University and Adrian Smith’s Review of post-16 Mathematics
Charlotte:
Cathy – you have recently joined the Open University team. Welcome. Tell me a bit about your experience and interests in mathematics education.
Cathy:
Well, I have recently come from a big mathematics education team at UCL Institute of Education. I have been working in mathematics teacher training and professional development. I am really pleased to be taking that work forward here in Mathematics Education.
My research interests are in two areas. One that I am very passionate about is the participation of young women in mathematics. I have researched adolescents at the stage of them choosing whether or not to continue with mathematics, looking at how they are positioned by wider discourses about what it is to be a girl or a boy, and how it feels to be at the intersection of multiple identities: mathematics student, hard worker, friend, son, daughter. One of the reasons the Open University has always appealed to me – and I have been an associate lecturer in the past – is the chance it offers for people to come back to studying, and specifically to come back to mathematics.
The other area that I have recently been working on is designing courses for beginner teachers to prepare to teach A-level mathematics. This has been a project with the Further Mathematics Support Programme. Our research suggested that new teachers get limited experience of teaching level 3 mathematics during their training – because they are rightly concerned with other aspects of classroom and curriculum management. So over the last three years we have rolled out online and face-to-face courses in which beginner teachers can enrol to look at aspects of A-level mathematical knowledge from the learners’ and teacher’s points of view, combining learning about subject and pedagogy. I think this also is fit with the Open University aim to offer opportunities for teachers and others to upskill themselves in mathematics, maybe consolidating their knowledge, maybe looking to teach a wider range of content or students.
Charlotte:
Yes, exactly. We have over 1000 students every year enrolling on our core mathematics module. About ten percent are on the mathematics education pathway and many others tell us they intend to teach. For example one of our students, Joanne Breeze, is studying in Wales for the BSc in Mathematics with a view to becoming a teacher. She was originally an electrical engineer, after first going off to a red brick university, then following an apprenticeship route instead. She returned to study and decided to retrain after having children. Lots of our students have similar stories and are returning to formal mathematics study after time in the workplace. Then, others come to us because they prefer flexible, distance-learning options that we offer. Many are already working in schools in support roles, so we are aware that schools want more mathematics specialists who can also communicate and work with children.
Cathy:
Adrian’s Smith report has just been published setting out the future needs for post-16 mathematics. He has recommended that, in the longer term – about ten years – the government should expect every 16-year old to be studying some mathematics. I think he makes a very good case that employers want graduates with some quantitative skills, whereas many of our 23-year old graduates have not studied any maths for five years. It is not only teachers who have to pass a numeracy test.
Charlotte:
As a country we need mathematical skills for people in STEM jobs – but also in non-STEM jobs because these are becoming increasingly data–driven. I recently heard the film animator Sydney Padua talk about the importance of using mathematical tools in her creative work.
Cathy:
I agree with universal participation as a goal but it is difficult to see how that could be compulsory. I think we need a range of pathways so that every 16-year-old can see a choice that offers suitable mathematics for them, whether that’s functional maths, vocational maths, Core Maths, A-level etc. I once did a review of the curricula in high-performing jurisdictions, and they all had a range of pathways post-16 that included maths for work, maths and statistics as well as a calculus route like A-level. Then of course there is the question of the teacher workforce required …
Charlotte:
…which will only add to the increasing recruitment demands for specialist mathematics teachers, and they will now need to be effective in teaching that range of courses. Adrian Smith recommends investment in continued professional development in mathematics for teachers of post-16.
Cathy:
Yes, and if all these teachers are needed post-16, this may have a knock-on effect and mean that schools would find it hard to provide specialist teachers for the new GCSE, or for GCSE resits in FE. Realistically there is going to be a huge need to bring new entrants into the profession or for teachers from other subjects to retrain in mathematics. And that where we have to say the OU can help.
Charlotte:
Our mathematics education modules were originally designed for improving teachers’ knowledge of mathematics, and how mathematical thinking develops. We have got reach across the four nations, and in fact we have already been working with the Irish government. We have matched up our maths modules with the new standards that they require from specialist teachers. So teachers can learn at a distance, while they work.
Cathy:
What I see as the next stage for mathematics education in the Open University is to make our modules more accessible for people in schools or any other busy work environment. You might not need a full second degree, but as an educator you do need to understand how the school mathematics curriculum prepares students for the next stages of study. You need to know how to analyse the data sets that students meet at GCSE and A-level, and how mathematics helps us model movement and forces. Explaining how mathematics is applied in biology, or how it has developed historically through human problem solving, inspires students to learn more and to keep participating in maths. So at the OU, perhaps that means presenting the best tasks, and the most relevant content, in more flexible units. There are some great, short professional development courses around but they don’t offer the breadth and support of an OU undergraduate module. So in the next few months I will be thinking about what we can offer as professional qualifications for existing teachers and new ones. And how this can make use of our expertise in teaching enabled by technology. And crucially talking to schools and Maths Hubs about their priorities for developing and retaining mathematically skilled teachers. The OU wants to make changes, and this fits well with its vision of becoming more agile and engaged with employers.