Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 March 2014
72. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views of the findings in the chief inspector's report that the depth of mathematical knowledge required to deliver the objectives of projects maths is challenging to some teachers; his plans to improve training for teachers in this subject; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10382/14]
View answer73. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to improve the teaching of maths in second level schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10383/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 73 together. The period 2010-2012 was one of significant change in Mathematics because of the phasing in of Project Maths in all post-primary schools. Project Maths emphasises student understanding of mathematical concepts and the use of contexts and applications that enable students to relate Mathematics to their everyday experience. The curriculum has been phased in over a number of years. In tandem with the roll-out, a comprehensive programme of professional development has been provided for teachers of mathematics by the Project Maths Development Team (PMDT). To date, ten workshops have been offered to all maths teachers on a rolling basis as each strand of the curriculum was implemented. The workshops have encouraged teachers to adapt teaching strategies appropriate to the various curriculum strands and to developing student skills in critical areas such as problem solving. Teachers have also had opportunities to engage with additional CPD in the form of modular courses on areas of particular interest, for example, the use of ICT in maths teaching, as well as a national conference. Project Maths is also supported by the introduction of a Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching to upskill out-of-field teachers of mathematics in September 2012. The course is jointly accredited by the University of Limerick and NUI Galway. The Professional Diploma represents an investment of over €3 million to date. There are over 600 teachers on the programme at present and a further intake is planned for September 2014. The need for change had been identified in a number of studies and reports conducted since 2002. These include the Chief Examiner's Report for Mathematics (2005), the results of PISA 2009 and reports of inspections in Mathematics undertaken by the Inspectorate. Further, the continuing decline in the uptake of higher-level Mathematics, particularly in senior cycle, meant that fundamental changes to the manner in which Mathematics was taught, learned and assessed were essential. More recent inspections indicate that at post-primary level, in Mathematics the quality of teaching in 77% of lessons and the quality of learning in 74% of lessons was judged to be satisfactory or better. The impact of Project Maths was also evaluated by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). The research highlights that considerable progress has been made in implementing the revised mathematics syllabuses since the inception of the Project Maths initiative in 2008. There are numerous examples of promising practice in the way that mathematics is being delivered in the classroom, and emerging evidence of positive impacts on students' experiences of, and attitudes towards, mathematics. The findings include that students are positively disposed to Mathematics and have high levels of confidence in Strands 1 and 2, the strands that were the first to be introduced in the phasing-in of Project Maths. Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate students perform much better than their international peers in these strands. Students report that they are frequently undertaking activities commonly associated with the revised syllabuses (for example, making connections between mathematics topics, and applying mathematics to real-life situations). However, more traditional approaches (for example, using textbooks and copying from the board) also continue to be widespread. The research on the impact of Project Maths on student's attitudes and attainment as well as evaluation of the situation regarding teaching and learning of mathematics in schools will be taken into account by my Department and the PMDT when designing the support plan for maths teachers for the coming years.
