What can be done to improve attitudes to maths in Welsh primary classrooms?

It is not a hidden fact that mathematics is not the most popular subject amongst pupils or individuals at all. However, it has become more than pupils disliking maths, in fact there is not a serious concern for pupils as young as six suffering from maths anxiety (Weale, 2019).  The faculty of education and the centre for neuroscience in education at Cambridge University’s research found that pupils a fearful and even feel sick at the thought of mathematics, some even skipping school out of anxiety towards the subjects (Weale, 2019). The amount of teenagers choosing to study maths later on in life is on a shocking decline. “GCSE has “completely destroyed” the confidence of students who have “had enough of maths” (Ward, 2017). The major decline in the attitudes pupils have towards maths in higher and further education can be resolved by improving attitudes towards maths in primary schools. Raising pupils confidence in mathematics in primary school could tackle the problem from the source, as such.

Heidi Kirkland, a primary school teacher at the British School of Cairo,  explored ‘Maths Anxiety’ in depth, surveying teachers with how they saw ‘Maths Anxiety’ in their classroom (Kirkland, 2016). Using only words, Kirkland asked teachers to sum up ‘Maths Anxiety’ and these were the most popular responds;

A - Fear (41%)

B - Avoidance (17%)

C - ʻTest Anxiety’ (22%)

D - Dislike for mathematics (8%)

E - Poor attitude towards learning (7%)

F - Other (12%)                                                                                            (Kirkland, 2016).

The most worrying part of the results is that 22% of teachers saw it as ‘Test Anxiety’, which means a lot of pupils feel the anxiety whilst sitting a test, in an environment that a teacher is not allowed to intervene in. Therefore, the pupil is not getting the support they need when they really need it.  

It is not just teachers that need to support pupils but parents as well. A parents attitude towards mathematics in a big influencer when it comes to how children feel about the subject. If a parent is to have ‘Maths Anxiety’, than the child is less likely to have confidence themselves towards the mathematics (Eccles, 1983). Parents are seen as role models to children, so if parents exhibit negativity towards maths either in their attitude or in a form on anxiety than their child is most likely to show a similar kind of behaviour (Soni & Kumari, 2017).

So how do we change the attitude primary school pupils have towards mathematics? A resilience needs to be built. An approach to mathematics in a classroom can be built through a pragmatic construct (Lee & Johnston-Wilder, 2013).

When it comes to building up the resilience of pupils in primary school teachers play a vital role. When trying to tackle mathematic problems pupils tend to build resilience and keep powering through if they receive positive encouragement throughout the lesson (Lee, 2016). No matter what age individuals are, positive encouragement goes a long way in term of self-confidence in the task at hand. I am 23 years old and I still get a buzz of confidence when a lecturer gives me positive feedback during class. Positive feedback or encouragement is there as a little push to let the pupils know that they are on the right path. Even when a pupil gets a mathematical answer wrong, having a teacher let them know it is ok and that they will get it, to keep on pushing and trying and a lot better than red negative marker all over their work. It is disheartening for any pupil, especially ones as young as key stage 1 and 2. Therefore, having a teacher there as support throughout the lessons in a more positive light could change a pupils attitude towards a maths class.

As mentioned in a previous blog, gamification is a great way to allow pupils to understand that it is ok to make mistakes as long as you carry on trying. It is also a fun way to get children to gain knowledge without them knowing. If we take away the awareness of learning mathematics, there is a chance it could also take away the anxiety.

After doing some research myself, I came across an app called ‘Prodigy’. Prodigy is a Game Based Learning tool that is a game with the mathematic curriculum built into it. Pupils compete in duels against in-games characters and in order to win the game, they must answer mathematical questions correctly. It takes the pressure off and replaces it with entertainment (ProdigyGame, 2017). To make sure they are learning relevant topics related to the schools specific curriculum, teachers are able to log in and create their own questions for the pupils to answer (Nisbet, 2019). The teacher’s can also log in at the end of the day and get a report on every individual child to keep track of their progress. Each child answers question after watching a tutorial which mean each pupil gets their own tailor made experience and games, something a teacher would not be able to achieve standing at the front of the classroom.

Something as simple as teaching through a game could increase the chances that pupils in primary schools are going to want to join in. By exposes the pupils to a more exciting way to learn a subject that once gave them anxiety, they create a positive bond with mathematics from an early age. Hopefully, this will take away ‘Maths Anxiety’ during classrooms, build their self-confidence and maybe even encourage them to carry on studying maths further on in their education.

Bibliography

Eccles, J., 1983. Expectancies, values, and academic behaviors. In J. T. Spence (Ed.), Achievement and achievement motives. Psychological and sociological approaches.. San Francisco, CA: Freeman & Co.

Kirkland, H., 2016. 'Maths Anxiety': Isn’t it Just a Dislike for Learning Mathematics?. [Online]
Available at: https://learn.cardiffmet.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/937132/mod_resource/content/1/Maths%20Anxiety-%20Isn’t%20it%20just%20a%20dislike%20for%20learning%20mathematics%3F.pdf
[Accessed 2 May 2019].

Lee, C., 2016. Mathematical Resilience Teachers’ Reflections on Working to Develop Mathematical Resilience in Learners. [Online]
Available at: https://learn.cardiffmet.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/937133/mod_resource/content/1/Developing%20Mathematical%20Resilience.pdf
[Accessed 2 May 2019].

Lee, C. & Johnston-Wilder, S., 2013. Learning Mathematics- letting the pupils have their say. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 83(2), pp. 163-180.

Nisbet, J., 2019. 13 Best Math Apps for Kids in Elementary School. [Online]
Available at: https://www.prodigygame.com/blog/best-math-apps-for-kids/
[Accessed 2 May 2019].

ProdigyGame, 2017. Prodigy - Free Curriculum Aligned Math Game. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLNtDFss4qQ
[Accessed 2 May 2019].

Soni, A. & Kumari, S., 2017. The Role of Parental Math Anxiety and Math Attitude in Their Children’s Math Achievement. International Journal of Science and Maths Education, Volume 15, pp. 331- 347.

Ward, H., 2017. Exclusive: Maths 'Disaster' as Schools Report 'Alarming' Decline in Post-16 Take-Up. [Online]
Available at: https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-maths-disaster-schools-report-alarming-decline-post-16-take
[Accessed 2 May 2019].

Weale, S., 2019. ‘Maths Anxiety’ Causing Fear and Despair in Children as Young as Six. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/mar/14/maths-anxiety-causing-fear-and-despair-in-children-as-young-as-six
[Accessed 2 May 2019].