We all have fears. For some it might be spiders, I personally don’t like confined spaces or high rise buildings, and for others it might be something unfathomable to the rest of us like a fear of ice cream!Whatever the fear – the symptoms are the same. Confused thoughts, a desire to run, sweaty palms, revulsion and panic.
For many children Mathematics can bring out some of these feelings. Maybe not in quite such a dramatic fashion but that feeling of panic, of being lost or even worse being shownup for their lack of knowledge or understanding in front of peers, brings children a huge amount of anxiety. It’s not surprising really, as adults we would probably feel the same if we were taught a new concept in a group of 30 people with just 50 minutes to an hour to master the concept. A concept which we might be struggling to comprehend at even a rudimentary level.
For many children anxiety regarding Maths can compound. If one concept is misunderstood when looking at a topic, say for example fractions which is a common source of stress in the Mathematics curriculum, then there is no foundation to build on once the concept is looked at in more depth or presented as reasoning or problem solving tasks.
It’s exhausting just thinking about this and then add in new initiatives, Mathematical vocabulary and the fact that everyone else seems to be confident and smiling and it is no surprise that Mathematics, of all the curriculum areas, can cause stress and anxiety.
I led Mathematics in Primary for over a decade and for all of the courses and new initiatives I’ve seen the one thing any child needs is confidence and that comes from context. So many children perceive themselves to be miles behind their peers who often seem so much more capable than they are. Through talking about these perceptions, dispelling the myths children have about their own ability in relation to everyone else and showing how Maths problems aren’t impossible to solve, we can begin to build a happier student.
That’s a lot of problems to solve though.
So what are some practical solutions?
Here are 2 points to get started with – I will add some more ideas next time.
The first focuses on thinking about how to improve as a learner. The second point also does this but is also a practical tip you can try straightaway.
1) Every child fails at Maths at some point but if you are used to succeeding at Mathematics you will find a way. This point is linked to Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset.
Here’s an example: If you are good at football you will get past that full back, if you are good at dance you will eventually become a confident point dancer in ballet, the process won’t bother you will find a way and failures will just be seen as part of the process/journey.
We would probably all be point ballet dancing fearful if we had to do this every day but (thankfully) we don’t have to!
However children have to do Maths at school every day. If they perceive they can’t do it, that it is too hard, then it is a massive challenge to improve.
It is at this point that it becomes essential that children reframe their thinking and try to view Maths in the same way as they do with something they are confident about. If they are doing an activity they are confident at they will not see mistakes as fatal mistakes, if they can transfer or at least begin to use this thinking in their approach to Maths then they are half way to achieving more success.
2) Take micro steps – Yes it is essentially the Hare and the Tortoise approach. Keep practicing and make the steps between levels so small you barely notice them.
Do you remember getting a page of sums at school that were all the same question type? Once you cracked the concept youprobably enjoyed doing the page of sums. You felt confident and satisfied. You were overlearning and there is a place for this because it means when you got the page of sums where you were adding 4 digit numbers rather than 3 digit numbers you were confident you would be able to achieve this.
It’s an old fashioned method but it has its place.
That’s enough for now. I will add some more suggestions next time and begin to look reasoning and problem solving.