National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics
The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) is an institution set up in the wake of the Smith Report to improve mathematics teaching in England.
| Abbreviation | NCETM |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2006 |
| Legal status | Government agency |
| Purpose | Maths education training |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 53.373°N 1.47°W |
Region served | England |
Director | Charlie Stripp |
| Affiliations | DfE |
| Website | NCETM |
It provides strategic leadership for mathematics-specific CPD and aims to raise the professional status of all those engaged in the teaching of mathematics so that the mathematical potential of learners will be fully realised.
Please note: some of the content on this page is now out of date. For an up-to-date view of the NCETM's work, please go to the Centre's website.
Structure
Its Director until March 2013 was Dame Celia Hoyles, Professor of Mathematics Education at the Institute of Education, University of London and former chief adviser on mathematics education for the government.[1] She was succeeded by the current Director, Charlie Stripp.
An innovative NCETM development is the MatheMaPedia project, masterminded by John Mason, which is a "maths teaching wiki".
Initially headquartered in London, it is headquartered in the south of Sheffield city centre opposite St Mary's Church, Bramall Lane on part of the A61 dual-carriageway (Sheffield Inner Ring Road), east of the Velocity Tower, near the Bramall Lane Roundabout; it is the headquarters of Tribal Education.
It is run by Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) and Tribal Education.
Improvements to maths teaching
The NCETM's Evidence Bulletin , available only to those logged into the site, asks "How can you use research evidence to enhance your mathematics teaching?" It covers themes such as the following:
- How can we encourage students to work hard?
- How to build on intuitive ways of working
- What makes some teachers more effective than others?
- How to encourage effective discussion.
- How can whiteboards make learning interactive?
- Gaze aversion and teaching.
Emphases of the NCETM include:
Extensive website
The website, which anyone can join, offers special areas dedicated to early years, primary secondary, post-16 and new approaches to teaching and learning. Members can create their own personalised learning space within a social networking site, where they can share ideas with others and ask for inspiration.
The NCETM hosts online courses as well as real-world and workshops
Online discussions
Special online events have included the world’s first online discussion of proof, the launch of ground-breaking report Mathematics Matters, led by Malcolm Swan at the University of Nottingham, and videos of Teachers Talking Theory: in Action, a new professional development resource created by and featuring primary and secondary teachers in the South West of England.
Discussion forums track ICT in mathematics teaching and the Bowland case studies, newly in schools from September 2008 to enliven the teaching of key "stage 3 mathematics."
Annual conference
At the NCETM annual conference 2008, Sir Peter Williams launched the Review of Primary Mathematics, which called for a mathematics specialist in every primary school by 2015, amounting to improved and ongoing training for 13,000 primary teachers. Lord Adonis, representing the government, welcomed the report and agreed to its implementation.
See also
- Centre for Industry Education Collaboration and National Centre for Computing Education, also at York
- Count On - maths education initiative
- Mathematics education in the United Kingdom
- International Congress on Mathematical Education