Sharing Student Projects

How knowledge is constructed, who decides what is taught, and when and how it is measured have long governed discussions around educational policy. Yet, dialogue around how our ‘knowledge-rich’ national curriculum sits within its contemporary, cultural context is far quieter. This dissertation reports on an inquiry into activating knowledge during maths lessons in a Year 1 setting in Greater Manchester. It explores themes of knowledge and power, place-based education and how these work in relation to activating knowledge. Qualitative data gleaned from student voice indicates that students are building their knowledge of maths far wider than school, revealing a plethora of ‘hidden’ adults and places. This makes the case for teachers building their awareness of students’ contexts and how these intersect with learning opportunities, especially in early education and especially where their socio-demographics differ to those of the school. Furthermore, this study found that one government-endorsed maths scheme does not match some research recommendations for how prior knowledge is most effectively activated through structural as opposed to surface tasks. This indicates that school bought schemes and subscriptions should not be blindly accepted, rather, subject to teacher discretion and adaption for student need. Finally, this project indicates that leading models of cognitive architecture and activation of knowledge, upon which policy is in at least part predicated, don’t yet adequately capture the idiosyncrasies and fluidity of knowledge in ways that can be monitored and used effectively in a classroom of Year 1 students. As these models form part of the dominant discourse of learning, there can only be benefit in apportioning space for teachers to learn more about the origins of ideas, the contexts in which they are used and their underlying ambiguities.

Visual depiction of impact is provided: