Oxford Publishing Consultant
I have recently finished working on this brand new series of GCSE Maths books for Edexcel and AQA exam boards.
The books follow on from the KS3 books, with a similar focus on models and representations, and the alignment to White Rose Maths’ ‘small steps’ to provide gradual and more secure learning.
The series is available on the Collins website: https://collins.co.uk/pages/white-rose-maths-for-gcse
Looking ahead into 2024, I am likely to have some capacity for new projects in the second half of the year, from June/ July onwards. My specialism is maths education across the K-12 spectrum and across a wide range of global curricula. I can offer:
I can best be contacted at karlwarsi@outlook.com
I look forward to hearing from you.
As the UK gears up for a general election, there’s a lot of talk from politicians about how maths should be taught. The latest is from the Labour Party, stating that real world maths should be taught at primary school. While the idea of six year olds being able to interpret a pay slip, or exchange currency from Argentinian Peso to Czech Koruna, might seem appealing to some, and possibly make more sense to those six year olds than the maths they’re given currently, I do have some concerns.
For one thing, the real-life maths of today might have little meaning by the time these pupils are able to make independent choices and decisions. And for another, the notion that real-life contexts makes maths easier to understand and more engaging is slightly spurious. Pupils have an innate understanding of number, and patterns, as abstract ideas, and I think that time devoted to these concepts, as well as arithmetical and geometrical relationships, along with additive and proportional reasoning and so on, is time well spent.
And, much like all ‘new’ initiatives, it’s been done before, with the touting of ‘functional maths’ which was supposed to be a major new qualification about fifteen or twenty years ago, and then wasn’t really that major after all. A good curriculum always contains some real-world maths. I would argue that we don’t necessarily need lots more.
Two weeks ago I attended the World Education Summit 2022 in. Sharm-el-Sheikh as a speaker. The event was a success, attended by around 180 delegates mainly from the Arab regions.
I presented sessions on York Global Mathematics and York Global Science, the two K-12 courses currently launching from York Press.
My main session was entitled The Universal Language, on the global universality of maths and science.
http://www.worldeducationsummit.com
Over the course of my educational publishing career, which is over 20 years now, I have learned and applied many new skills, reflecting the needs and technologies of the time. One thing that I have noticed, and particularly during my current time as a freelance consultant/ publisher, is that there appears to be an increasing demand for publishers and editors to be responsible for formatting and general page layout. Whereas it used to be fairly standard that a good development editor would work with the text and images in a book to ensure that it was of the highest quality, leaving it up to a design house or typesetter to implement the actual page layout, this task is now falling at the feet of the editor. The skills required are quite different – familiarity with software packages, and ability (as well as willingness!) to work with templates and formatting. All of this is at the expense of good subject matter knowledge and editorial experience.
This is all largely due to a shift towards digital media rather than printed books, blurring the boundaries between traditional editorial and design roles. There may also be a pressure to cut costs, due to a worsening economic situation. Either way, I feel that I am probably not alone in regarding my strengths as being elsewhere. I look forward very much to the future of publishing, and am excited about the potential of digital media, but I sincerely hope it does not result in the extinction of the traditional publisher, who is well-informed in the subject, well-informed in education and market trends, and has an intuition for what works on the page.
An invaluable new resource has recently been published by the Association of Teachers of Mathematics, entitled A Deep Sense of Number (Starting with Dots).
This collection of activities is designed to encourage very young children to develop number sense.
With a focus on learning through the recognition of dot patterns, this wonderful and well-researched book can be used for whole class teaching, or small groups or pairs.
Find out more about how you can get a copy of this book on the ATM website here:
The book Super Simple Maths has now been published by Dorling Kindersley.
It is the ideal resource to support learners aged 11-16 studying Key Stages 3 and 4, who are working towards a GCSE or equivalent in mathematics.
With its focus on clear visual presentation of concepts, this book allows you to improve your understanding of mathematics across all main topics in the curriculum.
The book contains key points and ‘How it Works’ boxes to ensure crystal clear clarity. It is also a highly valuable reference for adults, including parents who want to improve their own understanding of maths.
You can find Super Simple Maths on the DK website at this address:
No more does learning maths need to fill you with terror. Super Simple Maths will make it all crystal clear. Aimed at secondary level students, this invaluable guide will be ideal for consolidation, catch-up and revision.
https://www.dk.com/uk/book/9780241470954-supersimple-maths/
Published by Dorling Kindersley, this book should be available from June 2021.
I am currently planning my work for the year ahead and would welcome freelance roles in educational publishing, particularly maths. I have lots of experience in research and commissioning, as well as project leadership, project management, CPD and development editing. I also have considerable experience in digital product and publishing for international markets. Please do contact me if you have any suitable opportunities.
There’s some really interesting research from the University of Nottingham Department of Education around the effectiveness of GCSE Maths resits in the FE sector, concluding that the expectations around raising attainment to a grade 4 or above in less than a year are often unrealistic. The report makes a number of recommendations, including training and professional development for cross-college managers of mathematics, which it identifies as being critical in making a positive impact. To see the work of the Mathematics in Further Education project, visit the Nuffield Foundation website:
https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/project/mathematics-in-further-education-colleges-mifec/