PGCE Mathematics
Dear PGCE mathematics trainee
We hope you will enjoy studying here and we are very much looking forward to working with you. We have a large cohort of trainees on their ‘professional year’ some of whom have been with us for the previous one or two years. We benefit tremendously from the diversity of experiences which our trainees bring and expect everyone to contribute to the learning community here.
The PGCE is a very intensive course and you will benefit from being well prepared in September. We are suggesting a number of tasks for you to undertake in the time before enrolment. We fully understand that the amount of time you have to spend on these will depend upon your other commitments.
Key Preparations:
Developing your own mathematics
You come to with us with very different mathematical experiences. By the end of the PGCE year you will need to demonstrate firstly, that your own mathematical subject knowledge meets minimum standards and secondly, that you have an appreciation of a variety of ways of learning mathematics. If you feel there are gaps in your subject knowledge of secondary school and A level mathematics then a good place to start would be to have a look through current A level and secondary GCSE textbooks.
In addition we recommend the following text:
Mason, John (1999) Learning and Doing Mathematics, QED
This offers suggestions for strategies for developing your own ability to think mathematically and do mathematics in many different ways, as well as developing some key aspects of your subject knowledge. Working through this text will revise and develop both your own knowledge but will also give lots of ideas for classroom activities.
Reading Lists:
Background mathematics
Reading around the history of mathematics and current ideas can inspire you and help you to convey the excitement of mathematics to your pupils. The following 3 books are all well worth reading:
1089 and all that: a journey into mathematics / David Acheson. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2002
A light-hearted look at some mathematical topics.
The music of the primes: why an unsolved problem in mathematics matters / Marcus du Sautoy. London : Fourth Estate, 2003
An account of questions which have puzzled mathematicians for millennia, which gives a good general view of the history of Mathematics.
Fermat’s last theorem: the story of a riddle that confounded the world’s greatest minds for 358 years / Simon Singh. Fourth Estate, 1997.
Again an excellent introduction to the history of Mathematics and its problems, this time centred on a question which was solved recently, after centuries of speculation.
Reading about teaching
Here are some texts that all begin to prepare you for teaching mathematics in schools. Choose one, or more of the following:
Bills, C. Bills, L. Mason, J. and Watson, A. (2004). Thinkers: A collection of activities to provoke mathematical thinking. ATM.
Haggarty, L. (ed.) (2002) Aspects of Teaching Secondary Mathematics: Perspectives on Practice. Abingdon, Oxon: RoutledgeFalmer.
Issues in Mathematics Teaching Edited by Peter Gates RoutledgeFalmer ISBN: 041523865X
Howard Tanner, Sonia Jones (2000) Becoming a Successful Teacher of Mathematics RoutledgeFalmer
Watson, A., Jones, K. and Pratt, D. (2013) Key Ideas in Teaching Mathematics:
Research-based guidance for ages 9-19. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Link to subject association website (if appropriate):
National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching Mathematics (NCETM)
Association for Teachers of Mathematics (ATM)
The Mathematics Association (MA)
NRICH
http://www.nrich.maths.org.uk/public/index.php
Count on
Curriculum and/or Key Specifications:
You will need to familiarise yourselves with the current statutory requirements for the English education system
Department for Education – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-mathematics-programmes-of-study
Preliminary Subject Knowledge Audit:
After reading through the National Curriculum programme of study for Mathematics at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, identify the following:
- 3 key areas in which you feel confident / have substantial experience.
- 3 key areas where you feel less confident / lack experience in.
You will be required to complete a more detailed subject knowledge audit at the start of your course.
In order to keep up to date with developments in education we recommend that you read the TES (Times Educational Supplement- www.tes.co.uk) and the Guardian Education supplement (www.theguardian.com/education). We also recommend that you regularly read a broadsheet newspaper.