Maths report highlights need for professional development

Maths report highlights need for professional development

A new report about primary school maths achievement highlights concerns about professional training and development that teachers have been flagging for a long time.

The report concluded that a lack of emphasis on the basics was holding children back from deeper mathematical understanding.

NZEI Te Riu Roa President Louise Green said New Zealand kids needed modern teaching that was going to inspire a diversity of talents and prepare them for a world that needs creativity and innovation. Rote learning of basic facts was not the way to achieve that.

“But I think that most teachers would strongly dispute that learning of basic facts has been sidelined. It is the foundation to deeper understanding.”

Ms Green said initial teacher training courses have long been mixed in their capacity to provide adequate training in maths and there is also a long-standing lack of professional development training for teachers.

“The underfunded education system means teachers are not getting the professional development support that they need for optimal maths teaching,” she said.

The report recommended schools and teachers should share their expertise and successful initiatives with each other, which is the point of the NZEI and Ministry of Education Joint Initiative currently underway.

As part of the initiative, NZEI and Ministry working parties have been visiting schools around the country to find solutions to this and other educational issues.

“Through the Joint Initiative, we have been identifying grassroots models of collaboration and looking at ways that groups of schools are working together to share knowledge and experience,” said Ms Green.

“Many have been getting together to organise and fund their own professional development training because teachers can see the need. We have identified a number of ways forward and look forward to developing these models with the ministry for the benefit of all schools and students.”

ENDS

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