Nationalising primary mathematics: Mixed messages and conflicting methods?

Abstract

This paper examines how mathematics education policy at the national level affects practice at the local level, using a policy trajectory model that attempts to trace policy through the contexts of influence, policy text production and practice (Bowe and Ball, 1992). It focuses on the development of calculation in the National Numeracy Strategy (1999), drawing on elite interviews, document analysis and studies carried out over the period in question. It concludes that policy text inevitably incorporates contrasting values, competing ideas, as well as differing vested interests. This creates some inconsistency in guidance for teachers and, hence, the potential for confusion at the level of practice