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OPINION | FLIPPED TEACHING

Have you lost yourmaths teaching mojo?Simon Walsh thinkshe may have a flippinggood solution...

How are maths teachers supposed to inspire andmotivate students if their core objective is toensure that D/E level students pass an examwith at least a C? Zeb Friedman, an advancedskills maths teacher and the maths subject

facilitator for Brighton & Hove's nine secondary schools,explains this dilemma: “Ofsted and the government seem tobe contradicting each other. The government is putting out allsorts of draft proposals about what the maths curriculumshould look like, with Ministers espousing the rote learning offacts, whereas Ofsted is very much pushing towards applyingproblem-solving, real-life maths, making it engaging and funand relevant.”

“Ofsted doesn't want us teaching prescriptive stuff from thefront,” agrees GCSE maths teacher Andy Lutwyche. “We'retold to aim for a 30/70 balance – 30% teacher input, 70% kidsdoing, discussing, explaining themselves.”

However, there is no change in the assessment system totruly match this different kind of teaching and learning. Theofficial value of education is still measured by the ability ofstudents to pass exams.

“We're in a position where league tables are seen as the be-all and end-all,” says Lutwyche, “with school funding givenor taken away according to exam performance.”

If this wasn't frustrating enough, teachers are also facedwith a stream of negative news about education issues: mathspupils in England are behind those in East Asia; parents arestruggling to help their children with maths homework; andthe Government plans to increase primary school mathsresults targets to make pupils more ‘secondary ready’, while atthe same time proposing curriculum changes that could

reduce the uptake ofA-level maths.

Something foreveryoneThis mixed-message,topline results-above-allenvironment has madeteaching GCSE mathsincreasingly joyless –however, one solution isthe kind of ‘flipped

teaching approach’ that is actually being encouraged byOfsted. It involves teachers focusing on guidance rather thanspoon-feeding. Students are taught to find explanations forconcepts and do rote learning exercises at their own pace andin their own time outside class, leaving class-time for moremind-expanding, problem-solving activities.

In order to achieve this balance and enable them to teachmaths in this way, teachers are turning to technology-basedtools and materials.

“We've got to keep experimenting in class,” says Friedman,“and technology has allowed us to do that, particularly in thelast five years or so.”

The kind of technology that's available at secondary schoollevel ranges from simple smartphone apps such asLoughborough University's mathscard, through advancedcalculators, interactive online quizzes, tutorials, puzzles andgames, to graphing and modelling software, sophisticateddigital multimedia library services like ClickView, andeverything in between.

“Technology has made teaching certain maths topics, suchas graphs and functions, angles and polygons, a lot easier,”says Lutwyche. “For example I use Maths Doctor TV, a freeonline video tutorial and worksheet resource for GSCEstudents. I set the exercises for homework, and I've had a lotof really good work back from the kids who find material inthis format easy and engaging to use.”

Friedman cites a decisive example of the adoption oftechnology to support flipped teaching: “A school in Hove hasjust gone to one device per child and no textbooks, no exercisebooks – they're 100 percent online. There's a lot to be said forthis online-only approach in terms of throwing teachers in atthe deep end. You have to think about your planning verydifferently, and you use different apps and engage withcompletely different software, such as the ‘explainseverything’ app as opposed to the smart board software.”

Using a flipped teaching approach supported bytechnology-based aids is not without challenges, includinggetting the guidance vs. spoon-feeding balance right, testingnew resources and learning how to use them effectively, anddealing with IT issues. However, it's worth the benefits it canbring: reigniting your passion for teaching and enablingstudents to fulfil their potential, as well as meeting the gradesdemanded by the Government.

“The more inspired I am, the better the pupils at learningand therefore the results,” Lutwyche agrees.

Eventually, it is to be hoped, the Government and examboards may catch up and change the curriculum and itsassessment system to embrace this more holistic approach toteaching and learning for the 21st century.

KEEP

SIMON WALSH IS A HIGHLYEXPERIENCED MATHSTEACHER, AND FOUNDERAND MD OF MATHSDOCTOR, THE UK'SAWARD-WINNING DIGITALEDUCATION COMPANY,WHICH PROVIDES GCSEAND A-LEVEL MATHSTEACHERS, TUTORS,STUDENTS AND THEIRPARENTS WITH MATHSDOCTOR TV(MATHSDOCTOR.TV/TEACHERS) – A FREE, ONLINEMATHS VIDEO TUTORIALAND INTERACTIVEWORKSHEET RESOURCE.

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