The provision of sufficient numbers of effective teachers of maths in schools and colleges has long been a problem in England; Sir Adrian Smith identified the shortfall in 2004 in his report, ‘Making Mathematics Count’, where he described the shortage of specialist maths teachers as the most serious obstacle to ensuring the future supply of sufficient young people with appropriate maths skills. Even now, 16 years later, we have not solved this problem and indeed most statistics point to the situation becoming even more problematic. This has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In England teachers do have specialisms but QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) is non-subject specific and senior leaders are free to assign any teaching work within the school to any teacher. With the ever-increasing shortage of specialist maths teachers, growing numbers of non-specialist teachers are being directed to teach maths in both schools and colleges, referred to as ‘out-of-field’ teaching.
Many countries around the world are also experiencing similar problems; for example, Ireland is also employing increasing numbers of teachers out-of-field (estimated at about 20%) and has seen a collapse in the numbers recruited to teacher training courses. So we are not alone - but there are some countries that seem to have bucked this trend, Finland and Japan being two examples.
Several elements have now combined to exacerbate our shortage of specialist maths teachers in secondary schools and colleges in England; these include:
The Nuffield report in 2018 shows even more worrying trends in that the most inexperienced or the ‘out-of-field’ teachers are most frequently allocated to Key Stage 3 classes (age 11-14), and that schools in disadvantaged locations have the most difficulty in recruiting and retaining well-qualified teachers of maths.
Surely now is the time to think of more radical approaches to solve this continuing problem?
The solutions will depend on the impact of COVID-19, which are still largely unknown, but below are some thoughts to explore and provoke conversations.
Let’s take a closer look at countries that do not fit the international trend of difficulties with recruitment and retention of effective maths teachers; for example Finland. The teaching profession here is held in high regard and there is real competition to become a teacher but conversely there’s no competition between schools as learners just attend their local school, there’s no inspection service and there’s no national tests until age 18.
Head teachers and teachers are trusted to provide their learners with an effective and well-rounded education and crucially, the country is a very high performer in international tests, including maths.
The Finland model may seem a step too far for both politicians and parents but I think it is unlikely we can solve our crisis in the supply of effective and capable teachers of maths unless a complete rethink of our educational system is contemplated.
Although rigorous data is difficult to come by, it appears that the average length of service of a trained secondary maths teacher is between 5 and 6 years. This should set alarm bells ringing and somehow, we need to turn the profession round so that, as in Finland, teachers are held in high regard.
We need to consider the possibility of just one national exam board and we need to ensure the many trained teachers we have are actually teaching, not simply fulfilling a variety of supportive and advisory roles.
Above all, we need to ensure that future generations of young people are given every opportunity to become confident and capable within the subject of maths, with transferable skills to support their own success as well as enabling them to successfully contribute to the economic wellbeing of the country.
In my last blog, I’ll explore a change in direction for maths in the UK, focusing on Core Maths as a realistic solution.
Author: David Burghes, Professor at Plymouth University and CIMT Director
