Numeracy for QTLS

Achieving the Minimum Core

Liz Keeley-Browne, Anne Price

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781317864042
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

By 2010 the Government requires all teaching staff in the Lifelong Learning Sector to gain the QTLS (Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills) teaching qualification. In addition to the new qualification, all those training to teach in the post compulsory/FE sector must also have reached an acceptable skill level in literacy, numeracy and ICT before they qualify, this is referred to as 'the minimum core' and states that literacy skills must be equivalent to a level 3 qualification (A Level standard) and numeracy skills must be equivalent to level 2 (GSCE).

This aims to be the first core textbook in the market to support those undertaking initial teacher training in the post-compulsory/learning and skills sector (formerly FE). The text is structured in line with the requirements and specifications of the minimum core and therefore guides students to achieve the minimum core and pass the new national tests in order to achieve their QTLS qualification. This is achieved by developing the student's personal knowledge, skills, and strategies in order to ensure that they support their own students when they start teaching/training themselves. In addition a self-audit of numeracy skills is available online in order to identify areas of personal strengths and weakness.

Part 1 Barriers to Learning

This part identifies many of the barriers experienced by learners when working with number and poses some possible solutions for consideration by lecturers/trainers when working with learners who disengage from or avoid the use of number.

1 Confronting the issues

The area covered by this chapter is:

The influence different social and personal factors have on the development of numeracy skills.

In this chapter we explore attitudes to number and in so doing identify different learning journeys that bring us to the positions, prejudices and fears we may hold today. By the end of this chapter you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the impact of learners' background on their approach to number. This chapter explores the factors that affect individual competency, ability and enthusiasm for number. The issues raised relate to young and adult learners alike.

The standards from the agreed competencies required of those training to teach in the Learning and Skills sector addressed in this chapter are:

AS 1, AS4, AK 1, AK 3

This chapter relates to the following minimum core standards for numeracy:

A1 Awareness of the range of personal, social and cultural factors including attitudes in the wider society, age, motivation, gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status in relation to numeracy

KEYWORDS: dyspraxia dyscalculia Maths phobia

Starting points

It is inevitable that early experiences of number influence the way individuals feel about it in later life. With this in mind we start with you, the trainee teacher, and pose a number of questions:

• Do you consider yourself competent and confident when using number?
• Why might Maths as a subject create more anxiety than other subject domains?
• How useful is it to ask learners to reflect on their prior experience with number?

The task places you in the position of being a learner again.

Task 1.1

Reflect on your experience of learning number.

• Would you define yourself as anxious, confident or somewhere between the two?
• Can you identify the factors that determine your perceptions?

In thinking about your experiences it is beneficial to go back as far as you can remember to the point at which you first started to acquire your numeracy skills.

Task 1.2

Think about your early experiences of learning number.

• Do you remember any toys or games you owned as a child that required the use of number?
• How did you learn to count, to recognise number form and shape?
• Can you remember any popular songs encouraging number use?
  Discuss your list with a colleague or study partner.
• How might the list of games and songs popular today differ from when you were young? Comment on your findings.

Tasks 1.1 and 1.2 have been designed to encourage you to think and talk about your personal experiences. Complete the task below as a starting point for your reflective diary or Individual Learning Plan (explained below), describing your earliest memories of working with number, your successes, hopes and fears.

The Individual Learning Plan

If you are using this text as part of a training programme you will have been introduced to the idea of keeping an Individual Learning Plan (ILP). If this is a new idea to you then please log on to the accompanying website, www.routledge.com/9781405873543, for this text where you will find a copy of an ILP you can use. We explore the use of ILPs in Chapter 5 of this text.

The Individual Learning Plan Tool learning resource is downloadable from:

www.routledge.com/9781405873543.

Task 1.3

Log into the ILP. Use one of the reflect spaces to record your experiences with using number.

• In which area are you personally competent?
• Where do you need help?
• What has shaped your views and attitudes concerning number use?

You may be anxious about the focus on numeracy in your training programme. Anxiety is a difficult thing to deal with and can exacerbate a problem. When anxious we do not always think clearly. We believe that confidence is a key component in numeracy and would encourage you to consider how best to instil confidence in your learners and with your peers.

Task 1.4

Think about something that makes you anxious. Share this with a peer if you are able. Identify the impact this fear has on your ability to think and function.

Poor basic skills

The Moser Report produced in 2000 (DfES, 2000) highlights particularly concerns about the 'intergenerational' effect of poor basic skills. The research underpinning the report outcomes supported the commonly accepted perception that, when parents have trouble with reading, writing or numeracy, it is more likely that their children will start with a similar disadvantage. Parents with limited basic skills are obviously less able to give their children support if they have problems.

Discussion point

When visiting my local swimming pool recently I heard a young child count the number of bicycles in the rack and report to his mother that there were three. She then noticed two more and asked the child how many bicycles he could now see. The answer given by this bright and vocal 3-year-old immediately was five. Now compare this with another parent and child rushing to the pool with no time for conversation and consider the following:

• How influential are early experiences and encouragements to use numeracy?
• Are ability and skill in number mainly influenced by natural ability or our early experience?

The role of adults

The Moser Report (DfES, 2000) also highlighted to what extent failure to address the skills needs of adults, particularly of parents and grandparents, as well as the very young, could have a major impact on attempts to improve the country's basic numeracy and literacy skills and undermine a national effort to improve the nation's skills in the core areas as set out in the government's national literacy and numeracy strategies.

Consider the case study below which lists the membership of an adult numeracy class held in an inner-city community centre.

Case study

Liz is a retired primary school teacher who works as a volunteer teacher at her local community centre teaching basic numeracy skills on a Tuesday morning. In her class she has the following learners:

• Two female parents of young children wanting to improve their numeracy skills so that they can help their children.
• One ex-offender trying to improve his numeracy skills.
• Three males, new to working in the UK with second-language learning difficulties, competent at number but unsure of the language issues.
• One part-time firefighter who cannot pass the examinations to become a full-time employee and who lacks confidence in using number.
• One aspiring childminder who seeks social services approval to be a childminder and needs to demonstrate a certain level of numeracy ability to be accepted for the official Childminder register.

The individuals above, with their personal reasons for attending a numeracy class, represent a small sample of the adult population who in some way or other find their lack of number ability debilitating and limiting in their efforts to achieve their full potential.

Task 1.5

Consider the individuals identified above. What are the barriers that have impacted on their number learning and what factors have motivated them to take action?

There are some very real reasons why numeracy is so difficult for some people. We explore below some of the real and perceived reasons why numeracy for some is such a barrier. The first we identify is classified as Maths phobia.

Maths phobia

Rather difficult to diagnose and possibly something that many people suffer from to one degree or another is a condition we name Maths phobia. You may wish to consider how quickly you reach for a calculator to do simple sums. Do you trust your number work or do you ask someone else to check it? Have you developed strategies to avoid using number by perhaps asking someone else in the family to deal with financial issues? How often do you shy away from dealing directly with issues that require a competence in number?

Understanding how number works is an important part of everyday life from managing your money, travelling to work, shopping, paying bills or organising holidays. Below you will see the work of two groups of teacher trainee...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Brief contents
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Part 1 Barriers to learning
• Part 2 Tools of the trade
• Part 3 Number competence
• Appendix Cooperative group work
• Answers
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index