Supporting teachers to embed numeracy across the curriculum: a sociocultural approach

Bennison, Anne

doi:10.1007/s11858-015-0706-3

Cited by 32 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Similar findings, with regards to personal conceptions of numeracy, understanding connection between numeracy and the subject taught, pedagogical content knowledge, and factors within a teacher's professional context have been reported previously for two other teachers in the current study (Bennison, 2015b). Therefore, the case of Michelle provides further evidence that these characteristics are important aspects of a teacher's identity as an embedder-of-numeracy.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The ZFM structures the teacher's environment or professional context … [and] suggests which teaching actions are permitted, [whereas] the ZPA can be interpreted as activities that promote certain teaching approaches. (p.523, emphases in original) Mapping the characteristics in the framework for identity as an embedder-of-numeracy (see Table 1) onto the zones of proximal development, free movement, and promoted action in a way that is consistent with the interpretations of the zones provided by Goos (2013) has shown some promise for analysing data that were collected in the current study (Bennison, 2015b). Further information about this study and the approach taken to data analysis is provided in the next section.…”

Section: An Adaptation Of Valsiner's Zone Theorymentioning

confidence: 61%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A sociocultural approach to understanding identity as an embedder-of-numeracy: A case of numeracy and history

Bennison

2016

European Educational Research Journal

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Improving numeracy learning outcomes for students is a goal of the European Commission. While many European countries have placed increased emphasis on links between mathematics and other subjects, in some countries numeracy is seen as an integral part of subjects across the curriculum. However, for this latter approach to be successful teachers need to have the capacity to embed numeracy into the subjects they teach. This article builds on previous research where it was suggested that teacher identity could be used to identify ways to support teachers to embed numeracy in subjects across the curriculum and that an adaptation of Valsiner's zone theory could be used to understand this identity. The purpose of this article is to use the detailed case study of a secondary school history teacher to explore how the theoretically developed framework for identity as an embedder-of-numeracy plays out in an empirical study. The analysis permits suggestions to be made about ways this teacher could be supported to embed numeracy in history and points to areas for further research.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: An Adaptation Of Valsiner's Zone Theorymentioning

confidence: 61%

A sociocultural approach to understanding identity as an embedder-of-numeracy: A case of numeracy and history

Bennison

2016

European Educational Research Journal

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One mooted solution to dealing with the extra-mathematical issues in schools is to literally take numeracy out of the mathematics lesson, the numeracy across the curriculum move, requiring all teachers in Bennison's (2015) term to become embedders-of-numeracy. But as Callingham and others' study shows, this is a far from simple move.…”

Section: Contexts and The Extra-mathematical Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numeracy for the 21st century: a commentary

Askew

2015

ZDM Mathematics Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

leavers with the basic skills of arithmetic, and so numeracy is regarded as a subset of mathematics. At the other extreme, it is argued that the teaching of numeracy should address the political dimensions of mathematics and its uses in society, so that learners are supported in becoming critical citizens. Papers in this special edition provide key readings and insights into different positions in this debate.Many of the papers draw on the model developed by Goos, Geiger, and Dole (2014) that examines elements of contexts, tools, dispositions, and mathematical knowledge, embedded within what the authors call a critical orientation. Indeed, being, or becoming critical is a thread that runs through the papers here and provides the main theme for this commentary. I then also consider briefly some issues surrounding the nature of contexts for developing numeracy and how the writers here address the issue of dispositions. In doing so my primary aim is to raise questions for debate and further conversation. Becoming criticalWhile parts of the education community cling to the 'number sense' and 'basic arithmetic' view of numeracy, there is a substantial body of work that argues that numeracy education needs to go beyond the basic skills model and to engage learners in thinking critically about how mathematics is used, the power that mathematics has (or how it is used by those in power), and to question the status quo (Frankenstein 1989;Mellin-Olsen 1997). Rather than seeing numeracy as a neutral set of skills, developing critical numeracy is seen as an important part of teaching for social justice. Gutstein (2003), for example, explores how to use real-world projects in school to promote equity and to develop students' use of mathematics. Such Abstract Many of the papers in this special issue draw on the fundamental model of numeracy developed by Goos et al. (Transforming mathematics instruction: multiple approaches and practices. 81-102, 2014). Four elements in that model-contexts, tools, dispositions, and mathematical knowledge-are embedded within a critical orientation, and being, or becoming critical is a thread that runs through the papers in this issue and provides the main theme for this commentary. I also consider briefly some issues surrounding the nature of contexts for developing numeracy and the nature of dispositions. Questions for the debate are raised with the hope that this prompts further conversation.

show abstract

“…There is clear information about my position within the study (see Section 3.1) so that the reader is aware of any potential bias that I might bring to the study (#5). Data collection, analysis, and findings were subject to peer review (#3) through conference presentations (Bennison, 2014a(Bennison, , 2014b(Bennison, , 2015b(Bennison, , 2015c(Bennison, , 2016bBennison & Goos, 2013a, 2013b and journal articles (Bennison, 2015a(Bennison, , 2015d(Bennison, , 2016a) throughout the study. Furthermore, although an external audit was not conducted in the true sense (#8), extensive discussions were held with more experienced colleagues about research design, interpretations, findings, and conclusions.…”

Section: Nevertheless Different Methods Of Data Collection (Primarilmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, pedagogical content knowledge and curriculum knowledge are important for identifying where and how numeracy can enhance subject learning. For example, being unable to make connections between the mathematical aspects of boundary objects (Star & Greisemer, 1989) and subject curriculum goals may prevent teachers from fully exploiting the potential of some tasks (e.g., Bennison, 2015d; see Section 2.1.4).…”

Section: Interpreting the Zone Of Proximal Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teacher identity as an embedder-of-numeracy: identifying ways to support teachers to promote numeracy learning across the curriculum

Bennison¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Numeracy encompasses the capacity to cope with the mathematical demands of life. The context in which mathematics is used is an important dimension of numeracy; so one way that schools can provide opportunities for students to develop this capacity is to take advantage of numeracy learning opportunities across the curriculum. Teachers need to be able to identify these opportunities, and design and implement appropriate tasks in their classrooms for this approach to be successful.Research interest in numeracy is increasing internationally because of growing recognition of the impact of low levels of numeracy: on the economic and social well-being of individuals, and on the economies of countries. Researchers have investigated professional development interventions that support an across the curriculum approach to numeracy but this research does not appear to have examined factors that influence how teachers implement learning from such interventions. This study responds to the question of how teacher identity can be used as an analytic lens to identify factors that influence the ways in which teachers promote numeracy across the curriculum, in order to ascertain ways to assist them in this endeavour.A framework for teacher identity situated in the specific context of promoting numeracy learning across the curriculum was developed and evaluated in this study. Thus, the research was conducted in two phases: a theoretical phase and an empirical phase. A framework for identity as an embedder-of-numeracy along with an adaptation of Valsiner's zone theory was proposed as a way of capturing and understanding both the complexity and dynamic nature of a teacher's identity in this context. An extensive review of literature informed the theoretical phase of the research. Case studies of seven teachers were utilised to re-examine the proposed framework and the sociocultural approach employed. This empirical phase was conducted over a two-year period, with teachers recruited because their participation in a larger study indicated that changes in their identity in relation to promoting numeracy learning were likely over this period. Data sources drawn on to develop the case studies were semi-structured interviews and lesson observations conducted during visits to teachers' schools. The focus of each case study was on the teacher's identity as an embedder-of-numeracy when teaching science or history.The proposed framework for identity as an embedder-of-numeracy was organised by five Domains of Influence: Life History, Knowledge, Affective, Social, and Context. Characteristics that have previously been shown to influence a teacher's identity were included in the framework if it could be argued that they were likely to influence how teachers promote numeracy learning through the subjects they teach. This framework captures the complexity of identity as an embedder-ofnumeracy and could guide the design of empirical studies, but does not reveal how specific identities are formed and possible trajectories these identities mi...

show abstract

Supporting teachers to embed numeracy across the curriculum: a sociocultural approach

Cited by 32 publications

References 21 publications

A sociocultural approach to understanding identity as an embedder-of-numeracy: A case of numeracy and history

A sociocultural approach to understanding identity as an embedder-of-numeracy: A case of numeracy and history

Numeracy for the 21st century: a commentary

Teacher identity as an embedder-of-numeracy: identifying ways to support teachers to promote numeracy learning across the curriculum

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About