Cognition in Mathematics

Client:

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

Birmingham City University’s Centre for Educational Research, led by Professor Carol Aubrey and Dr Eleni Kanira, was commissioned to carry out this three-year study in February 2010.

For over 20 years there has been interest worldwide in teaching thinking with arguments supporting and opposing underlying constructivist psychological theories and the variety of programmes that emerged. A thinking curriculum raises questions about long-term impact, transfer to other areas of learning, eg mathematics, and teacher development that this study set out to investigate.

A case study approach was adopted to investigate two thinking-skills programmes for a maximum variation sample of five- to six-year-olds in four schools, in two local authorities (LAs), in England and Wales, using multiple methods of observation, interview and assessment of cognition and mathematics. The design incorporated a policy-to-practice framework (Bowe et al. 1992) that sought to identify factors operating at the level of policy influence, policy text and reinterpretation at the level of practice.

Results

All school staff interviewed felt that cognitive acceleration programmes enhanced critical thinking skills and improved use of language, attentive listening, social co-operation, confidence and independence. All teachers and co-ordinators said that use of the programmes changed the quality of teacher and pupil talk and questioning. Welsh staff indicated that the materials had had a whole school impact, reflecting commitment in national policy, supported by intensive training, coaching and monitoring from advisors and leading to a philosophy that transferred to other lessons such as mathematics. Without a national curriculum mandate or LA whole-school support, the English thinking-skills practice was more vulnerable to change, disruption and lack of continuity.

Lesson observation showed that teachers’ delivery varied in the extent to which open questioning and challenge, group work and pupil talk were encouraged and supported. Differences between the programmes also appeared to contribute to observed differences in practice.

Pupils’ cognitive and numerical attainments showed little evidence of change and development. This finding was in line with a thinking skills evaluation (Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning & Skills, 2008) that reported the same positive impact on classroom practice and children’s engagement with learning but emphasised lack of evidence for a significant impact on learner attainment.

Benefits

Overall, findings illuminated conditions that might lead to positive changes in practice and sustainability. These included:

• national policy that places thinking skills at its core
• high-quality professional development by LA advisers and a whole-school approach
• coaching focused on classroom practice with systematic observation and feedback

This promoted changes in leadership, norms of trust and collaboration and structures of interaction between policy and LA, head teacher, teachers and children.

Read the full article: Aubrey, C., Ghent, K. & Kanira, E. (2012) Enhancing thinking skills in early childhood. International Journal of Early Years Education