I’m Leigh Graham and I work as an Education Support Officer (ESO) for Numeracy at Fife Council. As part of the Curriculum Improvement Cycle (CIC) I have been delighted to be part of the National Mathematics Collaboration Group. I have also been part of some of the earlier work of the National Response to Improving Mathematics (NRIM) and it is great to see these two programmes of work both complementing each other and merging together onto one coherent workstream. Being part of these groups has been an invaluable experience both in terms of contributing to positive change in Scottish Education and in terms of my own professional development.
I have also been involved in Education Scotland’s National Numeracy Strategic Leads Network for a number of years representing the views of Fife’s practitioners. This network meets termly to discuss key national updates and to share examples of interesting numeracy and maths development work taking place across Scotland. When it was shared that Education Scotland were looking for some of the Strategic Leads to support the work on the maths CIC I was keen to become involved to share the knowledge and expertise that I have gained about the current mathematics curriculum through my role supporting numeracy development across Fife.
Joining the Mathematics Collaborative Group has given me the opportunity to join a number of national maths events, which are a unique and powerful combination of practitioners, academics and stakeholders from across Scotland. The most recent event took place in Glasgow on the 4th November and I was joined by 80+ other attendees from a range of sectors, backgrounds and roles within Scottish Education.
At Collaboration Group events we speak about where we currently are with our mathematics curriculum in Scotland, where some of the challenges lie ahead and how we can future proof what we co-create for benefit of Scotland’s learners. At the most recent event we heard a range of presentations including an overview of the CIC work to date from Andy Creamer (Head of Learning, Teaching and Assessment at Education Scotland) and an update from Andy Brown, Specialist Maths Advisor at the Scottish Government. There were also various presentations from Core Group members who shared an update on the work that they had been taking forward since our last Collaborative Group event.
Over the course of the day we were shown a number of examples that the Core Group had been working on such as drafts of an evolving technical framework. As a Collaborative Group, we were asked to discuss these drafts in small groups and provide feedback. We were encouraged to record questions and things that we felt needed further clarification to enable the core group to consider their next steps. This was an interesting process as everyone in my group had different thoughts and suggestions depending on the role they were in and the lenses they were analysing the task through.
Some of the reasons why I find being part of the Collaborative Group such an invaluable experience are:
- It provides me with an understanding of how improvement happens at National Level and how we can all contribute to that improvement;
- I appreciate the transparency and the communication around how feedback from all education settings is being taken forward to inform improvements;
- It is reassuring that feedback from our Local Authority has been consistent with feedback from across Scotland;
- The opportunity to collaborate with colleagues across all educational settings in Scotland provides insight on how we can work more cohesively together.
I’m really pleased that the CIC work is evolving based on feedback from current practitioners as well as a range of stakeholders who have expertise in mathematics education. This collaboration is key to ensuring that our refreshed and evolved curriculum will meet the needs of all. Finally, if you do one thing only today, start making connections. Speak to a colleague you have not spoken to before about something that is educationally important to you as that one connection can lead to change.
Talking of connections and collaboration, in the next article in this series you can hear more about how different practitioners and stakeholders have been involved in the mathematics CIC work. John Neeson, Senior Education Officer (Maths and Numeracy) at Education Scotland will round up this series of LinkedIn articles and share why connection and collaboration across Scotland is a key ingredient for CIC success.
Leigh Graham
