"Talking is central to our view of teaching mathematics formatively. One of the strengths of mathematics lies in the way that ideas and concepts can be expressed in a very concise form. Yet this strength makes mathematics difficult to teach and learn. Hence, providing opportunities for students to express, discuss and argue about ideas is particularly important in mathematics."
The Kings College (London) research on formative assessment in the 1990s was led by Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam, producing the seminal work 'Inside the Black Box' published in 2002, informing policy, practice and educational research over the last two decades. This follow up, published in 2006, focuses specifically on formative assessment for maths and provides clear guidance for teachers on the importance of dialogue and opportunities for children to talk about their maths. If we don't encourage all children to share and discuss their understanding, how can we know what they understand? Of course there isn't time to converse with each individual student so we must rely on creating an environment and providing appropriate tasks so that all children can demonstrate what they understand and make sense of, contribute to and modify a shared understanding of concepts. If we understand that the most important reason we assess children's current understanding is to inform what we teach, then this article offers a clear indication of the most effective strategies when teaching maths.
Author = Jeremy Hodgen and Dylan Wiliam
Click below to download the file and return after reading to answer the reflective questions and deepen your understanding.
| ▷ What types of assessment do you use? ▷ How do they inform your teaching? ▷ Think of a lesson you taught recently: - List ways in which you accounted for the five principles of learning; would your pupils be able to identify these in your classroom practice? - In what way did assessment inform the lesson? - Did you use assessment during the lesson? If so, did it enable you to accurately assess all pupils? - How did that assessment inform what came next (during the lesson and/or in the next lesson)? ▷In the article, why do you think the authors have chosen to focus heavily on talk? |
