Abstract
This paper addresses ways in which mathematics pedagogy can benefit from insights gleaned from counselling. Person-centred counselling stresses the value of genuineness, warm empathetic listening and minimal intervention to support people in solving their own problems and developing increased autonomy. Such an approach contrasts starkly with the much more directive and leading interventions often made by mathematics teachers in the classroom. In this position paper I argue that minimal teacher interventions are a powerful way to support students in their learning of mathematics. Drawing on the interplay between a mathematics teacher’s responsibility to teach mathematics and their duty to support students pastorally, I argue that such an approach builds on skills that teachers already possess and has considerable potential to enhance students’ healthy mathematical development.
Highlights
The journey I wish to describe in this paper began with an incident that happened several years ago when I was teaching a mathematics lesson
As the class were leaving at the end, he waited behind to speak to me, but when I asked him about the problem he said that he wanted to wait until everyone else had gone. This immediately switched me into prepared-for-anything pastoral mode, but once the last person had exited he picked up the board pen and began telling me with enthusiasm about some mathematical puzzles that he had been thinking about
When he paused for breath, I asked him why he hadn’t wanted to talk about this with the others around, supposing that he was perhaps embarrassed about displaying his interest in mathematics to his peers
Summary
The journey I wish to describe in this paper began with an incident that happened several years ago when I was teaching a mathematics lesson. A mathematics teacher might respond to the first question by talking and telling, with minimal ‘gaps into which students can insert responses’
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