“So who wants to lead a mathematics department?”

1. “So who wants to lead a mathematics department?” Developing Future Secondary Subject Leaders for Mathematics – Collaborative Action Research Project 2007-08 Lee Northern, County Adviser for Mathematics Cornwall Education Development Service lnorthern@cornwall.gov.uk

2. Project Rationale Issues & challenges: • An imperative to recruit and train sufficient mathematics teachers to meet the needs of UK schools in the coming years. • The need to nurture, develop and retain the teachers who will lead mathematics departments in the future. • Provide support for new and aspiring mathematics subject leaders in an increasingly demanding school environment in which effective self-evaluation and leading on pedagogy and practice are key elements of the role.

3. Response Our response has been to develop a one-year programme which: • Addresses these challenges and the likely future needs of our secondary schools • Provides further benefits for participants as well as their schools

4. Programme Aims • Equip participants with many of the core skills of Subject Leaders and provide them with the opportunity to identify, plan, implement and evaluate an initiative of their choice within their classroom and/or department through an ‘Action Research’ approach • Permit participants to share ideas and approaches, compare outcomes and generally foster a collaborative network of mathematics teachers who are developing their classroom and leadership practice • Provide an opportunity for participating teachers to begin to acquire the skills of an effective subject leader with a clear focus on developing them as mathematics researchers and leaders. • Develop a recognised and accredited programme for aspirant mathematics subject leaders that schools in the south-west would recognise and would be confident had contributed to developing many of the personal and professional skills required for the role. • Successful participants (upon completion of an appropriate report) will qualify for a 60-credit award at Master’s level, accredited by the College of St Mark & St John, Plymouth.

5. Programme Structure • Autumn Term 2007: • Effective Strategies for Monitoring & Evaluation • Preparation/ planning for an Action Research project • Spring Term 2008: • Using Data and Leading on Teaching & Learning in Mathematics • Support to meet individual needs - Action Research Project • Summer Term 2008: • Leading, Managing and Building a Team • Guidance in completing an Action Research Project In addition to the formal sessions there will be: • In-school support provided by the course tutors in guiding the participants’ Action Research projects • Benefits in participants’ sharing experiences with colleagues also on the programme and exploiting opportunities to work collaboratively – facilitated also by use of the NCETM web-portal. There are currently 15 participants on this programme for 2007-08

6. NCETM Web-portal Community The portal is acting as a tool by which participants and course tutors can keep in touch (particularly important in a large, rural county such as Cornwall) and ask questions and develop a dialogue….

7. NCETM Web-portal Community ….but also as a device which encourages participants to undertake their projects in a more disciplined way and also – crucially – to work more collaboratively on their projects and not in ‘silos’ – but by sharing, for example, their research questions and project introductions.

8. Anticipated outcomes & wider dissemination The key outcomes of the project and features of the dissemination plan are as follows: • To support the future development of mathematics leaders in the south-west region and to enhance the effectiveness of those leaders once appointed to middle management positions in secondary schools (and hence, in the future, impact positively on the progress of pupils in their care); • To develop a ‘cadre’ of leaders who are classroom ‘experimenters’, who have successfully applied action research to develop their own practice, and crucially, those of others through a leadership role; • To evaluate the effectiveness of action research as a model to develop both mathematics pedagogy and the skills of middle leaders in mathematics;

9. Anticipated outcomes & wider dissemination - continued • To perpetuate and extend the programme in future years, possibly to incorporate primary-phase practitioners. • To reflect on and evaluate the process with a view to exploring the wider applications of ‘action research’ in influencing mathematics pedagogy. • To disseminate the findings of this project to other teachers in Cornwall through appropriate fora, such as via regular subject leader meetings and annual mathematics conference. • To publish case studies of action research projects on the NCETM web-portal in order to disseminate findings to the wider maths teaching community.

10. Current projects: Among the AR projects currently underway in this programme are the following research questions: • How can we ensure that students know how to progress in mathematics? • Do Both Peer and Self Assessment Raise Achievement and Awareness of Progress in Key Stage 3? • How has the use of ‘flight plans’ raised awareness of progress and therefore achievement in Key Stage 3? • Will KS4 attainment and confidence improve if pupils are fully aware of, and involved in, their own progression? • Is more progress made if we subordinate the subject content and concentrate on the thinking skills? • What can teachers do to encourage pupils to become more effective as learners of mathematics?