Cross-curricular numeracy 11-14
Cross-curricular work is back in fashion - hallelujah! Given that such ways of working were informally happening throughout the sixties and formally supported by the Plowden Report in 19671, and again through Non-Statutory Guidance in 19892 , then this publication can serve a useful purpose in helping to support teachers to develop cross-curricular links.
Finding real opportunities for students to engage in ‘real-life’ mathematics, in mathematics lessons though is problematic; the contexts offered in most textbooks being somewhere between nonsensical and contrived. For this reason the most appropriate real life contexts are those which occur naturally in other subject areas and where teachers make mathematics explicit by drawing upon such contexts. Under such circumstances students have opportunities to see for themselves where mathematics naturally exists. This resource, therefore, which offer cross-curricular links with mathematics is useful. I purposely refer to links with mathematics here and not merely numeracy because there are ideas within the publication that transcend the definition of numeracy (p 10.)
What I really like about this publication are the wide ranging ideas that teachers can dip into and use and, over time, can be written into schemes of work. Prioritising time to discuss with colleagues, working in other subject areas, opportunities to provide students with joined-up learning experiences are important. I cannot see the point of students gathering data in a mathematics lesson, if the same students have gathered or are about to gather similar type of information in another subject area. This publication, therefore, provides not only good ideas for classrooms but also a sense of joining up the curriculum. Given my predilection for coming out in spots whenever I see busy people spending time producing tick-lists, either for auditing or (supposedly) assessment purposes, I am pleased to see the author has carried out this task on my behalf (pp 5-8). As such I can tuck this information away and use it if necessary.
What concerns me about this book is the way ideas are described as ‘Worksheets’ and the possibility of this being used as an ‘off-the-shelf’ resource. How this book, and indeed any resource is used, is of paramount importance, however, dangers exist, particularly with photocopiable worksheet type resource books. For example the ideas about using tangrams (pp 80 - 83) provide a rich vein of ideas, however, if students experience tangrams by filling in the blanks (p 80), then an opportunity for in-depth discussion about the properties, the sizes and the names of the shapes being used may be lost. (Readers might also like to look in MT 1143 for more ideas for using tangrams). Likewise, using information which is up to date instead of that provided of a French TV page (p 118) or more localised information instead of the maps (p 97, p 102 and p121) is going to offer students more real learning experiences.
Given my concerns about textbooks per se and photocopiable resources which at worst can translate into a worksheet ‘learning’ experience for students, there are very many more ideas in this publication which can be adopted and adapted into schemes of work. As such I strongly recommend this book as a catalyst for cross-curricular development in schools and as a resource for teachers to have access to dip into and dip out of.
1H.M.S.O; Children and their Primary Schools (The Plowden Report), 1967
2D.E.S; Mathematics Non-Statutory Guidance, 1989
3Jean Sauvy; Mathematics Teaching 114, pp 33-34, March 1986
Review by: Mike Ollerton, St Martin’s College, Lancaster
Cross-curricular Numeracy 11-14 - S. Honey
Letts
ISBN 1-84085-882-6
2003
Price £45
Review Sections
See also
