Lessons Learned from Maths Lessons

This book looks at how mathematics is taught in schools, but it comes at the subject from a different direction than most titles on the topic. Rather than resting on pedagogy, psychology or research, where few conclusions are settled, it starts from the mathematics that sits beneath the school curriculum. Because mathematics offers firm ground in a way teaching theory does not, the guidance here is built on that foundation and draws on the authors' own experience and opinions.

The book is written by Keith Parramore and Joan Stephens, a husband-and-wife team of practising mathematicians with a great deal of experience supporting trainee teachers. Its observations are based mainly on lessons in secondary schools, though much of the content also applies to primary mathematics. The authors say they have noticed something new or worth remarking on in every lesson they have observed, and the book aims to pass some of those insights on to readers. It also seeks to encourage an approach that gives pupils more agency and builds genuine understanding.

Trainee teachers often single out particular topics they feel they need to strengthen. Parramore and Stephens suggest that the bigger need is a richer grasp of the subject itself, working through the mathematical foundations of what is being taught, rather than adding to a longer list of topics.