Play + Connections

According to Askew (1999), having a "connectionist orientation" (p. 98) towards teaching numeracy was what distinguished a group of highligh effective teachers of numeracy from other less effective teachers of numeracy.

Here is my list of important principles of a connectionist orientation towards numeracy teaching based on ideas discussed by Askew (1999).

Teachers ought to...

1. Have a consistent and coherent set of beliefs with regards to their mathematics teaching
2. Understand and teach children to understand the connections or relationship between different components of mathematics such the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction, and between multiplication and division, as well as between different strands of mathematics, e.g. number and measurement
3. Use differnt ways of representing mathematical concepts, but in a way which shows how each representation connections to one another - e.g. explore differnt ways of representing the concept of 1, differnt strategies of calculating 44 +89
4. Observe, value and find interest in understanding children's thinking including the processes they go through before arriving a final answer
5. Have a deep understanding of numeracy - by paying attention to efficiency and effectivenss of strategise being applied to a variety of mathematical contexts