“Superbly clear, inspiring, and backed by outstanding subject knowledge.”
Tom Bowley, Millfield School, Head of Maths
Subject Specific Pedagogy for Ofsted 2020
Subject knowledge CPD is becoming more important as many schools move towards a ‘knowledge rich’ curriculum under the new Ofsted framework.
We the teachers are now bombarded with information, opinion, and research evidence from colleagues, senior leaders, academics, policy makers, bloggers, and YouTube and TED presenters.
- How can we respond in the face of so many voices vying for our attention?
- How can we assess the value of what we are told?
- How can we reconcile what we read and hear with our own experience?
The task of assimilating these often contradictory influences can seem too great; our commitment to our vocation, on the other hand, prevents us from simply retreating to reliance on our own personal insights.
In this one-day workshop, we will take a step back from the noise to collectively address the questions:
- What is it we are trying to achieve in our classrooms?
- How can we reach these goals?
An Outstanding Maths Curriculum
We will anchor our investigation firmly in day-to-day practice by taking one topic from the secondary mathematics curriculum and working together to design the entire cycle of teaching the topic from planning through selection and creation of resources, pedagogy, feedback, technology, and all aspects of delivery through to assessment.
Along the way, we will interrogate some of the voices claiming to advise us, engage, as it were, in a dialogue with them, and reach some conclusions about how we as individuals want to make progress in our professional practice.
Educational Research & its Implications for Outstanding Maths Teaching
We will examine themes from the current educational discourse such as metacognition, independence, resilience, discovery, direct instruction, questioning, feedback, spaced review, and assessment, and spend our time investigating their relevance to the teaching of our chosen topic.
Who is this INSET for?
• The INSET is designed for practising secondary mathematics teachers and department heads looking to understand outstanding practice in Maths
• The INSET would be suitable for a whole department
INSET Outline
Curriculum Intent: Setting our educational goals
Nurturing our pupils’ independence and curiosity.
The importance of resilience and persistence.
Developing creative problem solvers
Training for exams
Curriculum Impact: Reaching our educational goals
The value and limitations of research
Applying research to our own practice
Direct instruction v. discovery learning
The value of collaboration
The power of questioning
Responding to pupil questions
The value of marking and feedback
Making testing more effective
The meaning of metacognition
Measuring our success
Implementation: Maths topic-based activities
Theory into practice
Implications of the morning’s discussions for planning and pedagogy
The impact of resource design on understanding
The value of technology in enhancing understanding
The value of homework
Assessing and monitoring understanding