Podcasts get people talking about maths

It’s probably stating the obvious, but the NCETM is not the only maths voice in town. Teachers, researchers and those involved in the world of teacher training have public discussions about how maths is taught and learnt all the time. This article points to five such examples—each approaching the subject from a different angle.

The concept of ‘care’ in maths teaching

This is a thought-provoking 30-minute conversation on the website of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics. The interviewer is Tony Cotton, who edits the association’s journal. His guest is Anne Watson, a former secondary school maths teacher and, later, Professor of Mathematics Education at Oxford University. Their conversation—more about generic factors affecting the relationship between teacher and pupil, than about the specifics of maths teaching—was prompted by an article Anne wrote for the January issue of the journal. You can find the article on the ATM’s index page for that issue.

A Local Authority working alongside the NCETM

In this podcast episode from Oxfordshire Teacher Training, one of the organisation’s SCITT team talks to two teachers—one primary, one secondary—who divide their time between school-based, Oxfordshire and NCETM roles.

Don’t worry if they haven’t ‘got it’ yet

Alf Coles was a secondary school maths teacher before moving into research and his current position of Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Bristol. In this TEDx talk he wonders whether there can be some instances where exposing pupils to material that is more advanced than topics they haven’t yet mastered can prove a catalyst for learning.

How mathematics enthusiasm can bloom late

Do you ever wonder what happened to that Year 11 or A level student of yours who could do maths but never showed much interest? Perhaps they turned into a research mathematician? That was just the scenario that brought together maths teacher Tom Rainbow and researcher Douglas Coates, who was in Tom’s A level group a decade ago. We featured their conversation in a recent podcast episode of ours.

Charlie Stripp talks to The Right Angle podcast

Finally, our Director, Charlie Stripp, recently talked maths on The Right Angle podcast, which is published by the Pearson organisation. Look for Episode 6 on this page. Charlie talks about his role at the NCETM, and at the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme, where he is Chief Executive.