Working together to improve teaching, learning and assessment Leagan Gaeilge
Professional Development ›› Numeracy Deep Dive

Whole-School Numeracy

Numeracy is not limited to the ability to use numbers, to add, subtract, multiply and divide. Numeracy encompasses the ability to use mathematical understanding and skills to solve problems and meet the demands of day-to-day living in complex social settings. To have this ability, a young person needs to be able to think and communicate quantitatively, to make sense of data, to have a spatial awareness, to understand patterns and sequences, and to recognise situations where mathematical reasoning can be applied to solve problems.
For more information about our supports for whole school numeracy please contact postprimarymaths@pdst.ie

Numeracy Deep Dive

Developing Students’ Numeracy through Professional Collaboration

The Deep Dive in Numeracy involves a PDST Advisor and a pair of teachers, one Mathematics and one from a so-called carrier subject, collaborating in lesson design with a particular focus on developing numerical understanding across the subjects. The project involves:

  • teachers identifying and agreeing on a topic that shares features with both Mathematics and the carrier subject;
  • collaboration between the teachers, in pairs, in design of a unit of learning;
  • lesson delivery and review;
  • the integration of digital technologies in lesson design and delivery

Over the past four years, the project has resulted in positive outcomes including motivational gains by students who perceived Mathematics to be challenging. It has also led to an increased student capacity to self-assess and to transfer and apply ideas across Mathematics and the carrier subject. Professional learning through collaboration with colleagues leads to deeper under-standing of the numeracy of carrier subjects and how best to support those subjects in a Mathematics classroom.

Other findings resonated strongly with some of the statements of highly effective practice in relation to all of the domains of the Teaching Dimension of Looking at Our Schools and of Domain 1 of the Leadership and Management Dimension regarding Leading Teaching and Learning.

Report 2020 by Dr Cornelia Connolly NUIG

Have a look at our teachers showcase video from Feilte 2020:

Showcase – To Develop an Understanding of Mathematical Concepts & Language Through Scientific Investigation – C Punch & A Smith from The Teaching Council on Vimeo.

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