This book focuses on how to improve the teaching and learning of primary level mathematics education within resource-constrained contexts. It builds on two large numeracy projects within South Africa which speak to broader, global concerns and highlight how research and development not only enables one to meet ethical imperatives but also explore how further interventions can be developed. Teacher and research communities must work together to create mutually beneficial relationships and establish a cohesive understanding of the requirements of primary mathematics education.

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Leading Improvements in Mathematics Teaching and Learning provides a framework for a set of high-impact strategies that individually and together can be the focus of teacher professional learning, school improvement and student numeracy achievement.

How would you teach the concept of odd and even numbers to a child? What is the probability of throwing a three on a six-sided die? How could you help a child who is confusing ratio and proportion? By seamlessly combining subject knowledge and pedagogy, the second edition of Understanding and Teaching Primary Mathematics will not only build your own confidence in mathematics, but also equip you with the curriculum understanding and pedagogical know-how to excel at teaching maths to children of any age. Written in a clear and accessible way, the book guides you through the fundamental ideas which are at the heart of teaching and learning maths, with special focus on observation and assessment of primary and early years children. Hallmark features Links to the classroom and research are provided throughout to help you relate educational theory to your own teaching practice. Portfolio and audit tasks allow you to assess your own subject knowledge and build up a portfolio of evidence to gain Qualified Teacher Status. The accompanying extra resources offers topic-specific self-audits for you to monitor your progress, exemplar lesson plans, a range of Portfolio Tasks mapped directly to current teacher standards and web-links to up-to-date online resources. New to this edition Resource Inspiration boxes give inviting examples of different activities to do with your class to provide inspiration for your own teaching. High quality videos with corresponding discussion, have been expertly selected from Teachers TV help to widen your skills and develop your practice, offering tips, lesson ideas and classroom resources.

Offers an exploration of contemporary issues facing primary mathematics teachers. Drawing on research and case studies from practice, the book explores a wide range of concepts as starting points for professional reflection and personal development to improve teaching and learning in primary mathematics.

Being numerate involves more than mastering basic mathematics. Numeracy connects the mathematics learned at school with out-of-school situations that require capabilities such as problem solving, critical judgment, and sense-making related to non-mathematical contexts. This book provides prospective and practising teachers with practical, research-based strategies for embedding numeracy across the primary and secondary school curriculum. Based on the authors' ten-year research program, the text explains what numeracy is and how numeracy has developed as an educational goal. It describes in detail the five dimensions of the authors' model: attention to real-life contexts; application of mathematical knowledge; use of physical, representational and digital tools; the promotion of positive dispositions towards the use of mathematics to solve problems encountered in day-to-day life; and a critical orientation to interpreting mathematical results and making evidence-based judgements. There is guidance on how to embed numeracy across all subjects within the curriculum, how to assess numeracy learning and how to deal with challenges and dilemmas including working with discipline boundaries and developing support resources. Featuring practical examples and case studies throughout, this book will build pre-service teacher confidence, demystify common misconceptions and grounds theory into practice in this vital area of student competency. 'The authors of this text are recognised authorities on numeracy. They have engaged heavily in numeracy research over many years and this text reflects the depth of their understanding and knowledge.' - Geoff Hilton, University of Queensland

A thinking student is an engaged student Teachers often find it difficult to implement lessons that help students go beyond rote memorization and repetitive calculations. In fact, institutional norms and habits that permeate all classrooms can actually be enabling "non-thinking" student behavior. Sparked by observing teachers struggle to implement rich mathematics tasks to engage students in deep thinking, Peter Liljedahl has translated his 15 years of research into this practical guide on how to move toward a thinking classroom. Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Grades K–12 helps teachers implement 14 optimal practices for thinking that create an ideal setting for deep mathematics learning to occur. This guide Provides the what, why, and how of each practice and answers teachers’ most frequently asked questions Includes firsthand accounts of how these practices foster thinking through teacher and student interviews and student work samples Offers a plethora of macro moves, micro moves, and rich tasks to get started Organizes the 14 practices into four toolkits that can be implemented in order and built on throughout the year When combined, these unique research-based practices create the optimal conditions for learner-centered, student-owned deep mathematical thinking and learning, and have the power to transform mathematics classrooms like never before.