The Elephant in the Classroom
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Review
A very interesting book which addresses some common problems found in the maths classroom which has been well researched and provides positive solutions and practical activities for those interested in trying to encourage students of today to become mathematicians of tomorrow. --Times Educational Supplement
Help children to learn to love the subject… Make mathematics more the mathematics that people need out there in the world. --BBC Radio 4's 'Woman's Hour'
Maths can be fun if only it s taught properly...Children who are subjected to dry and narrow maths classes need to know this and they need to be introduced to the real mathematics the varied and exciting subject that will help them for the rest of their lives. --'Scotsman'
Help children to learn to love the subject… Make mathematics more the mathematics that people need out there in the world. --BBC Radio 4's 'Woman's Hour'
Maths can be fun if only it s taught properly...Children who are subjected to dry and narrow maths classes need to know this and they need to be introduced to the real mathematics the varied and exciting subject that will help them for the rest of their lives. --'Scotsman'
Product Description
Why do millions struggle with mathematics and what can teachers do to change that? Jo Boaler has followed the progress of thousands of pupils in two countries (the UK and USA), monitoring how they learn maths through their school carers and then following them into adult life. This remarkable research is the foundation of her investigations into the impact that differing maths experiences can have on an entire generation. Jo Boaler outlines what has gone wrong, identifying the problems facing children in mathematics classrooms today and offers concrete solutions for parents and teachers that will revolutionise children s experiences with maths. The Elephant in the Maths Classroom offers concrete suggestions on ways to teach maths well, and ways to help children in the home, that will offer new and more effective ways of learning maths. This is an exciting way forward, a new approach that teaches children to reason and problem solve; helping all children, even those who think that they are maths failures and that they could never enjoy maths. An indispensable guide and resource for parents, teachers and educationalists, that inspires and enthuses as much as it teaches.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have just finished reading this book and it is fabulous. It brings to life the new Numeracy framework and is packed with lots of useful ways of improving the quality of teaching in the classroom. This book is also focused on the teacher - parent - child partnership and it explains how each has to play their part.
The book compares how excellent teaching in America compares to the traditional teaching in the UK and why lots of lessons lack the sparkle children need to aspire.
It also has lots of shocking facts about the state of education in maths and why this is going to have an every increasing impact on the future generations and their ability to work.
I would recommend this to anyone who teaches maths, have children who are teaching maths, or children who are having difficulty in really enjoying maths. It is also a excellent read in itself - I can read it, while juggling a newborn sleeping baby on my lap - so it must be quite easy to digest!
The book compares how excellent teaching in America compares to the traditional teaching in the UK and why lots of lessons lack the sparkle children need to aspire.
It also has lots of shocking facts about the state of education in maths and why this is going to have an every increasing impact on the future generations and their ability to work.
I would recommend this to anyone who teaches maths, have children who are teaching maths, or children who are having difficulty in really enjoying maths. It is also a excellent read in itself - I can read it, while juggling a newborn sleeping baby on my lap - so it must be quite easy to digest!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am a father and this book has proved an inspiration.
There is a very interesting chapter on the female brain and that females want a deeper understanding of maths and not just the rules (the difference being that girls want to know why it is solved a certain way and not just rote learning. I was taught just to memorize formula's because all the hard work of formulating the formula has already been done by mathematicians in bygone ages, we just have to do the work.
This is the first type of book like this that I've read. I'm a big fan of puzzle books, especially the authors Ian Stewart and Martin Gardner, so it was great that Jo recommends these type of books as a good way of generating an interest in maths. Read this book, you won't regret it.
There is a very interesting chapter on the female brain and that females want a deeper understanding of maths and not just the rules (the difference being that girls want to know why it is solved a certain way and not just rote learning. I was taught just to memorize formula's because all the hard work of formulating the formula has already been done by mathematicians in bygone ages, we just have to do the work.
This is the first type of book like this that I've read. I'm a big fan of puzzle books, especially the authors Ian Stewart and Martin Gardner, so it was great that Jo recommends these type of books as a good way of generating an interest in maths. Read this book, you won't regret it.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm a parent. I have young girls in KS1 who "don't like maths" and who are "no good at it". I personally found maths fun at school, college and university, now in my job and even more so in my leisure time. So I couldn't understand my girls' attitude.
The other day my seven year-old had a homework worksheet with about 20 questions. It was something like adding two numbers in the range 50..100. She first declared that she couldn't do it. Then we picked an easy one and worked through it together - she counted-on in her head and in fact completed the whole thing without help. Before starting the next question she had dropped her pen, twice, swivelled around on her chair and asked if we were finished yet. She declared again that she couldn't do it. Again she did it by herself, counting on, only this time she was slightly off because she'd miscounted. It was at this point that I decided to cut the session short. This was not the first time, I was failing, and I needed help.
I've never read any book in this field before. The Elephant in the Classroom was not what I was expecting. I was looking for something practical, perhaps some maths problems to work through together or guidance on how things are taught these days, such as multiplication "groups" and "number squares". What I got was something aimed at changing the way maths is taught in the UK. To my surprise this was both enjoyable and compelling. I found several reasons that helped to explain my daughters' attitudes. These reasons were more complex than I had ever imagined. These are the sort of issues that would make you change your vote or join the PTA. Many of the issues are demonstrated by serious, long-term studies, with startling results. There are examples of the dire maths questions posed in maths classes today, and great examples of really intricate problems that have inspired and delighted pupils of all abilities.
It turns out that the fact my daughter had been given a worksheet with 20 questions is a red flag in itself. The questions were too easy. She didn't know why she was doing them. They bored her. She was mechanically applying rules rather than discovering new ones. Jo Boaler declares "this is not maths", and I wholeheartedly agree.
I have since returned to that worksheet with my daughter, only this time we picked one question, 57 + 84, and discarded the rest. We focused on trying to find all the different ways in which we could answer that question, together. Obviously there was counting-on, but we agreed that was tricky with such big numbers. We got out some beads but gave up, now understanding why we don't always use the same techniques. We then started to break the numbers up and focus on the tens while ignoring the units. My daughter suggested that we treat the tens as units, 5 + 8, and then add the zeros back afterwards. I suggested swapping the units around, 7 and 4, so we could add a small number to a big number and count-on more easily. In the end we had half a dozen solutions to the same problem, we had *both* learnt new ways of doing it, and more importantly we had fun.
Only four stars because I would have liked more example problems aimed at primary school children.
The other day my seven year-old had a homework worksheet with about 20 questions. It was something like adding two numbers in the range 50..100. She first declared that she couldn't do it. Then we picked an easy one and worked through it together - she counted-on in her head and in fact completed the whole thing without help. Before starting the next question she had dropped her pen, twice, swivelled around on her chair and asked if we were finished yet. She declared again that she couldn't do it. Again she did it by herself, counting on, only this time she was slightly off because she'd miscounted. It was at this point that I decided to cut the session short. This was not the first time, I was failing, and I needed help.
I've never read any book in this field before. The Elephant in the Classroom was not what I was expecting. I was looking for something practical, perhaps some maths problems to work through together or guidance on how things are taught these days, such as multiplication "groups" and "number squares". What I got was something aimed at changing the way maths is taught in the UK. To my surprise this was both enjoyable and compelling. I found several reasons that helped to explain my daughters' attitudes. These reasons were more complex than I had ever imagined. These are the sort of issues that would make you change your vote or join the PTA. Many of the issues are demonstrated by serious, long-term studies, with startling results. There are examples of the dire maths questions posed in maths classes today, and great examples of really intricate problems that have inspired and delighted pupils of all abilities.
It turns out that the fact my daughter had been given a worksheet with 20 questions is a red flag in itself. The questions were too easy. She didn't know why she was doing them. They bored her. She was mechanically applying rules rather than discovering new ones. Jo Boaler declares "this is not maths", and I wholeheartedly agree.
I have since returned to that worksheet with my daughter, only this time we picked one question, 57 + 84, and discarded the rest. We focused on trying to find all the different ways in which we could answer that question, together. Obviously there was counting-on, but we agreed that was tricky with such big numbers. We got out some beads but gave up, now understanding why we don't always use the same techniques. We then started to break the numbers up and focus on the tens while ignoring the units. My daughter suggested that we treat the tens as units, 5 + 8, and then add the zeros back afterwards. I suggested swapping the units around, 7 and 4, so we could add a small number to a big number and count-on more easily. In the end we had half a dozen solutions to the same problem, we had *both* learnt new ways of doing it, and more importantly we had fun.
Only four stars because I would have liked more example problems aimed at primary school children.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Inspiring
I'm one of those who, by the time I started secondary school, was convinced that I couldn't do maths. Read more
Published 2 months ago by John Williams
Great book
This is a great book about maths education. I originally got it out of the library, and did not expect much, but was very pleasantly surprised. Read more
Published 3 months ago by John Brookes
A must for every maths teacher
How I wish I had had this book 40 years ago when I began teaching. This is the finest book on Maths teaching I have ever read and a MUST for every teacher in Primary schools and... Read more
Published 5 months ago by KS Alston
Excellent insight into the state of mathematics in schools
I am a student maths teacher, but with an engineering background, and am trying my best to bring practical maths into the classroom. Read more
Published 6 months ago by ailishb
Thought Provoking
As a practising maths teacher I bought this book out of interest. The title had me 'hooked'.
The traditional teaching techniques which helped me, and many like me, to... Read more
The traditional teaching techniques which helped me, and many like me, to... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mr. Paul James SMITH
Awesome book, Jo Boaler knows what she is talking about
As someone who has just finished her PGCE year in mathematics, this book has been very helpful. I agree totally with the majority of what Jo Boaler says in this book, and there are... Read more
Published 10 months ago by J. Futter
A readable book
Educational books can be hard going- not this one! It's informative and digestable. Being a primary school teacher I can assimualte with much of what Jo Boaler talks about. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mandy
Great ideas on teaching maths
This book has a good attitude to teaching maths and will probably change your opinion on setting and traditional maths teaching. Read more
Published on 4 April 2010 by Jo Jo
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