In his finger-poking and thought-provoking book ‘How to survive and succeed as a Headteacher’, Kevin Harcombe asks us to press the pause button and think carefully about jumping on trendy bandwagons. He says,
“Snake-oil salesmen used to roam the Wild West selling paten miracle cures; they are mirrored in current education by pedlars of wares that promise to interest, excite, inspire and raise attainment.”
Does maths mastery fit into this quick-fix promise of a miracle cure for maths attainment in the UK?
One thing is certain, maths mastery has been, and still is, extremely influential with many schools adopting the approach as their maths modus operandi. Mastery carries a lot of political and educational capital because the Government has put its weight behind it and invested heavily.
The £41 million funding for the maths mastery specialist teacher programme is a huge step and the schools minister, Nick Gibb, describes mastery as “one of the most valuable education initiatives undertaken by our government over the past few years”.
Maths mastery is literally being flown in from the East to save our souls and the ‘I can’t do maths’ British disease. Chinese maths masters have been parachuted in to show us how to do the maths and how teaching masterly can help pupils become independent, resilient and skilful learners.