Jamaica, like many other countries, is faced with the serious challenge of finding the most effective approaches to the teaching of mathematics in schools. This challenge is greatest in the early years of schooling when children are trying to make sense of mathematics. Research has shown that popular approaches used to teach mathematics in Jamaican schools are often inappropriate and ineffective with beginning learners. The result is that students who do not get a good start in learning mathematics usually end up not liking the subject, or not doing well in it.

series initiation

The Institute of Education at the University of the West Indies, Mona, has initiated the first in a series of mathematics workshops geared primarily towards early childhood and primary school teachers, teacher/educators and resource persons, as well as education officers and curriculum specialists. The workshop, themed 'Current Trends in Teaching Mathematics at the Early Childhood and Primary Level', began Thursday, July 2 and will run until Friday, July 10. Sessions are being led by professor of mathematics at Indiana University, Dionne Cross, who was also the guest speaker at the opening session which took place at the Math and Science Centre, Institute of Education. Professor Cross, a Jamaican, pursued her under-graduate studies in mathematics education at UWI, Mona and has taught the subject at different levels of the education system in Jamaica and the United States.

The workshop seeks to address the challenges of inadequate training of teachers and inappropriate teaching of mathematics in the early years of school, resulting in poor performance of students in the subject area in later school years and a poor attitude towards mathematics. The goal is to help participants to develop and design age-appropriate tasks and activities in mathematics, encouraging them to embrace a culture that focuses on students as problem-solvers and fostering students' interest in mathematics.

The objective is to help the teachers develop an approach to mathematics geared towards building ideas that are personally meaningful for students in the early grades. They will also develop a classroom culture that focuses on students making sense of mathematics and feeling confident in their ability to solve problems.

Participants who successfully complete the workshop series will be awarded a certificate of achievement in the teaching of mathematics at the early childhood or primary level.