Maths shake-up targets younger students

STUDENTS will be encouraged to aim for higher level Leaving Certificate maths from their first days in second-level school, under proposals to radically reform how the subject is taught.

The plan being considered by policy advisers to Education Minister Mary Hanafin — who has asked for the issue to be a priority — also envisages new teaching methods and increased training for teachers.

There were further calls, last week, for an overhaul of the maths curriculum following some commentators’ anger about the higher level papers last Monday.

The difficulty of the exam is constantly cited as a major factor in the low numbers taking maths at the top level for the Leaving Certificate, which has had a knock-on effect on performance in many third-level disciplines.

The numbers taking higher level maths has failed to reach one-in-five of all Leaving Certificate students for the last five years.

But proposals discussed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), last week, concentrate on earlier efforts to encourage young people to aim high in maths.

NCCA chief executive Anne Looney said the proposals would constitute a radical shake-up of junior and senior cycle maths.

“This would see maths structured quite differently from the way it is now, with a different approach to teaching, learning and assessment,” she said.

“It would still be based on the high standards we have now, but it would encourage more students to take part in maths at higher level,” Ms Looney said.

The strategy would begin from children’s first days at second level, by introducing a common first year course to build on what they have learned at primary school.

The use of more mixed ability classes in different subjects was recommended in a 2004 study by the NCCA and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) into the difficulties facing children when they begin second level.

It identified the disparities between subjects such as maths at primary and post-primary, and proposed familiarising second level teachers with the primary curriculum.

“The views of the ESRI are also being taken on board, such as discussions with first years about Leaving Cert higher level maths,” Ms Looney said.

As well as the content of the course being revised, she added that teaching methodologies could also face major changes.

“People rarely remember their maths, but they remember their maths teacher. They haven’t had a lot of in-service training support the way other teachers have,” she said.