- National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics
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National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics Abbreviation NCETM Formation 1996 Legal status Government agency Purpose/focus Maths education training Location London, UK Region served England Director Celia Hoyles OBE Affiliations DCSF Website NCETM The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) is an institution set up in the wake of the Smith Report to improve mathematics teaching in England.
It provides strategic leadership for mathematics-specific CPD and aims to raise the professional status of all those engaged in the teaching of mathematics so that the mathematical potential of learners will be fully realised.
Contents
Structure
Its Director is Celia Hoyles, OBE, Professor of Mathematics Education at the Institute of Education, University of London and former chief adviser on mathematics education for the government.[1]
An innovative NCETM development is the MatheMaPedia project, masterminded by John Mason, which is a "maths teaching wiki".
Improvements to maths teaching
The NCETM's Evidence Bulletin [2], available only to those logged in to the site, asks "How can you use research evidence to enhance your mathematics teaching?" It covers themes such as the following:
- How can we encourage students to work hard?
- How to build on intuitive ways of working
- What makes some teachers more effective than others?
- How to encourage effective discussion.
- How can whiteboards make learning interactive?
- Gaze aversion and teaching.
Emphases of the NCETM include:
Extensive website
The website, which anyone can join, offers special areas dedicated to early years, primary secondary, post-16 and new approaches to teaching and learning. Members can create their own personalised learning space within a social networking site, where they can share ideas with others and ask for inspiration.
The NCETM hosts online courses as well as real-world [3] and workshops
Online discussions
Special online events have included the world’s first online discussion of proof, the launch of ground-breaking report Mathematics Matters, led by Malcolm Swan at the University of Nottingham, and videos of Teachers Talking Theory: in Action, a new professional development resource created by and featuring primary and secondary teachers in the South West of England.
Discussion forums track ICT in mathematics teaching and the Bowland case studies, newly in schools from September 2008 to enliven the teaching of key "stage 3 mathematics."
Annual conference
At the NCETM annual conference 2008, Sir Peter Williams launched the Review of Primary Mathematics, which called for a mathematics specialist in every primary school by 2015, amounting to improved and ongoing training for 13,000 primary teachers. Lord Adonis, representing the government, welcomed the report and agreed to its implementation.
See also
- Count On - maths education initiative
- Mathematics education
- International Congress on Mathematical Education
- Extensive YouTube channel for teaching maths at www.yourteacher.com
References
External links
News items
Categories:- Educational organisations based in the United Kingdom
- Organizations established in 1996
- Mathematics education reform
- Mathematics organizations
- Mathematics websites
- Department for Education
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