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Discussion Meeting
Where will the next generation of
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A meeting with
this theme took place on 18-19 March 2005 in
As a result of
the meeting, we produced a Preliminary Report for wide circulation, as part of a process
leading to a more substantial investigation of the issues and possibilities. A
more detailed Discussion Document is in process of preparation. Your comments
on the Preliminary Report are especially welcome, please send them to
Alexandre Borovik,
and Tony Gardiner,
- From Letters and Opinion, THES,
“On the one hand, the
This is hardly the
efficient market that the Higher Education Funding Council for
In an efficient market,
career prospects alone would motivate teenagers to study maths, but this is
surely neither realistic nor desirable. If the nation wishes to supply its
jobs market, schools maths teaching must be improved and better funding and
bursaries provided in universities. Hefce already sets the financial
parameters for the student market: why does it fear intervening further?”
Niall MacKay,
- Virtual Teacher Center:
UK suffering 'maths skills shortage'
- Teachers’ TV: Experts say major maths reforms needed [streaming
video]
- The Times Higher
Education Supplement: Leader: Mixed messages on key subjects (
“One day senior mathematicians say there is a crisis in the subject that is the bedrock of the sciences, the next day the Higher Education Funding Council for England tells us not to panic and to leave it to the market. In both cases, perhaps they would say that, wouldn't they? Mathematicians are frustrated by the lack of progress since Adrian Smith's critical report on the subject last year, while the funding council sensibly does not want to be called in to offer aid every time a department is in trouble. But if the UK Mathematics Foundation is right about the scale of decline in secondary and higher education, the Hefce response risks looking dangerously complacent.”
- BBC News: Maths 'stuck in downward spiral' (28 June 2005).
"Changes brought
in in England in 2000, which divided A-levels into two separate parts - divided
into modules - had been the "most recent and most public nail in the
coffin" of decline.
They had made it "impossible to teach and to assess mathematics in an
integrated way", making the subject "less appetising".
The report also described a need to "revive" teaching of the subject
to able pupils aged 11 to 16.
The current system of "acceleration", where more gifted children move
ahead of their classmates, had "made the problem worse".
It had meant less focus on the "elementary" aspects of maths, which
were important to know when moving on to A-level."
- Guardian Unlimited: Donald MacLeod, Call for national debate on maths teaching (Tuesday June 28, 2005).
"Lost count of gloomy
reports about the state of maths in schools and universities? For more than a
decade mathematicians have been moaning and the government has responded with
inquiries, changes in the curriculum, numeracy hours in primary schools, golden
hellos for maths teachers and a plethora of other initiatives in England.
Yet
today the angriest report yet is published by a group of mathematicians,
calling for drastic action to save the subject. Where will the next generation
of UK mathematicians come from, asks the group, drawn from university maths
departments around the country, learned societies and the government's
curriculum watchdog.
At the moment the answer
seems to be "from Russia and Hungary". In many university maths departments
nine out of 10 of appointments go to candidates from abroad, while the shortage
of maths teachers in schools has got so bad that the Department for Education
and Skills has stopped collecting the figures."
- The Daily Telegraph: Teaching
of maths in spiral of decline, say dons. (28 June 2005)
"Maths teaching in schools and universities has entered "a spiral of decline" and the Government has failed to grasp the nature of the crisis, leading mathematicians said in a report yesterday. They said the performance of more able pupils had collapsed; the numbers taking A-level maths were falling dramatically; those with top grades were "increasingly innumerate and even ineducable"; the shortage of qualified maths teachers had reached "dangerous" levels; national test results were grossly inflated; and postgraduates with a PhD in maths from a British university were now "largely unemployable" in British universities."
Some documents prepared for the Meeting:
·
P.
Andrews, The future of mathematics: insights from comparative education. [pdf]
·
P.
Andrews, Quality control of school textbooks. [pdf]
· A. V. Borovik, What is it that makes a mathematician? [pdf]
· A. V. Borovik and T. Gardiner, A dozen problems. [pdf]
· D. French, Subject knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. [pdf]
· D. French, Further thoughts on routes to improvement. [pdf]
· Mathematical Education on Merseyside. [pdf]
· P. Thomas, A view from a mathematics teacher in a sixth-form college. [pdf]
Some relevant official documents:
- The report of Sir Gareth Roberts' Review: SET for success. The supply of people with science,technology, engineering and mathematics skills. April 2002. [pdf files: Executive summary and Chapter 1 , Chapter 2, Chapters 3 and 4, Chapter 5, Annex A, Annexes BC]
- The Government's response to
Sir Gareth Roberts' Report
- Making Mathematics Count. The report of Professor Adrian Smith's Inquiry into Post-14 Mathematics Education. [pdf]
· London Mathematical Society. Submission to the Select Committee on Science and Technology's Inquiry into Strategic Science Provision. [pdf]
· Ofsted subject reports 2003/04: Mathematics in secondary schools. [pdf]
Participants of the Meeting act in their private capacity and do
not necessarily represent position and views of their institutions and
organisations. The list includes
Stephen
Abbott HMI (Ofsted)
Dr Paul
Andrews (
Professor Margaret Brown (
Richard Browne (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority QCA)
Doug French (
Designate, Mathematical
Association MA); web
Gwyneth Gardiner (King
Edward's School,
Professor Celia Hoyles (Institute
of Education; Government Chief Advisor for Mathematics, DfES);
web
Jenny Ingram (Sidney Stringer Community Technology College,
Dr Andrew Jobbings (United
Kingdom Mathematics Trust UKMT; Arbelos)
Dr Gerry Leversha (St
Paul’s School,
Dr Hovik Khudaverdyan (
Dr Richard Lissaman (
Dr Mario Micallef (
Dr Graham Niblo (
Dr Karen Page (Department of Computer Science, University College London); web
Jenny Piggott (Faculty of Education,
Dr Ian Porteous (
Professor Chris Robson (
Dr Alice Rogers (King's College London; Heads of Departments of Mathematical Sciences HoDoMS); web
Dr Chris Sangwin (
Dr Brian Stewart (
Peter Thomas (Hills Road Sixth
Form College,
Mathematics and its Applications IMA)
Professor Alexander Veselov (
Dr George Wilmers (
Observer:
Dr Helen Carter (Mathematics Programme, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EPSRC)
Organisers:
Professor Alexandre Borovik (
Dr Tony Gardiner (
·
What kind of early educational environments
foster students who have the potential to become research mathematicians and
which environments tend to have the opposite effect?
·
Where will the next generation of
mathematicians come from within the
·
And what might we do to increase the local
flow?
In the mathematical community,
there is a growing concern that the supply of bright and motivated
undergraduate and postgraduate students of
The meeting will produce a discussion document, prepared and agreed among the participants within a month of the date of the meeting, and delivered to interested organizations (DfES, EPSRC, LMS, IMA, RS, MA, ATM etc.). We expect that the Discussion Document will contain
¨
A first attempt to specify the relevant target group and to
outline a collection of “profiles”, which indicate the variety of
“mathematically able” school students, formulated in psychological and
cognitive (and, therefore, curriculum-independent) terms rather than in terms
of curriculum attainment.
¨
Pertinent observations on the relevant sections (e.g.
Recommendations 4.5 and 4.10) of the Smith Report “Making Mathematics Count”.
¨
An initial attempt to formulate some generic advice to
(interested) schoolteachers of how mathematical cognitive traits can be
developed and supported in students in the course of routine school work.
¨
Possibly, some advice to universities’ admission tutors.
¨
Discussion of possible “outreach” policies towards schools
and teachers of mathematics aimed at raising awareness of the special nature of
mathematical abilities.
¨
Discussion of possible “outreach” policies towards
mathematically able children.
¨
Address policy issues affecting undergraduate and
postgraduate recruitment and career paths for young mathematicians. Discussion
of more general policies and structures in the area of education which would
create a learning and teaching environment more conducive to nurturing
mathematical talent.
FRIDAY 18th March
Session 1:
5.30-7pm. Tony
Gardiner
Background: a survey
General
discussion
Dinner:
Session 2: 8.30-9.30pm. Experiences
and examples 1 (including both promising and sobering experiences).
Ian
Porteous
The Experience of Merseyside Mathematics
Roadshows
Richard
Lissaman
Further Mathematics centres and distance
learning
Andrew
Jobbings
Issues arising from UKMT provision of the
national mathematics competitions
SATURDAY 19th March
Session 3: 9-10.30am.
Experiences
and examples 2 (followed by coffee break).
Doug
French (with input from Paul Andrews)
Issues emerging from current provision and
needs of pre-service and in-service teacher training
Peter
Thomas
Issues emerging from a committed Sixth Form
College
Mario
Micallef
Issues
emerging from attempts to use university
admissions
procedures to encourage schools/colleges to address the
needs of able students (STEP, AEA, FM and all that)
Margaret Brown
Personal perspective
Session 4: 11-1pm. Small groups each with a precise brief to generate ideas.
Lunch 1-2pm.
Session 5: 2-4pm.
Towards
workable policies (practical, professional and political; small-scale and
large-scale).
Issues
to be covered:
1.
recognising
the importance of a (large) "critical mass" of able students;
2.
curriculum
and assessment (including "Functional mathematics" and the
"Extension curriculum and assessment framework");
3.
teacher
recruitment and training;
4.
extra-curricular
provision;
5.
undergraduate provision;
6.
postgraduate
provision and post-doctoral career structure.
Tea, Departure:
Venue and Time:
Chancellors Conference Centre in
from 17:00 pm on Friday 18 March to 17:00 pm on Saturday 19 March 2005.
Last
update 4 August 2005