What we offer...
Training for Teachers and Support Staff
Due to the prevalence of mathematics anxiety amongst adults, we offer two different training approaches for teachers and support staff. One is for those who have mathematics anxiety and one is for those who have confidence in mathematics.
We offer 1-hour, 3-hour and 24-hour courses to groups either face-to-face or online. These courses can be tailored to fit local needs.
We offer an introductory 1-hour session, during which we introduce our approach and give an overview of our toolkit and how it works, including case studies from our research.
Over 3 or 24 hours, we go into more detail and cover a wider range of mathematical contexts.
Course Variants
for Staff with and without maths anxiety
Maths Anxiety is contagious. Therefore teachers and support staff need to learn to manage it in themselves and also model managing it.
It is likely that 1 in 3 staff members in a UK school have mathematics anxiety.
Teachers who are confident with maths and unaware of maths anxiety risk causing further harm to learners who have acquired maths anxiety. We seem to develop a maths anxiety informed workforce which enables teachers to empower learners to thrive when learning mathematics.
Our course participants tell us that understanding mathematics anxiety has made them better teachers.
By separating adults with maths anxiety from those who are mathematically confident, we seek to create brave learning spaces for everyone.
For Teachers/Support Staff with Maths Anxiety
Adults with maths anxiety have personal experience which can make them a benefit to the education of learners with the same anxiety. However, they need to take time to understand how to manage their own anxiety in a maths lesson. This allows them to not simply overcome the maths anxiety and teach, but also model what it looks like to overcome maths anxiety, demonstrating to learners that a resilient approach to learning mathematics is possible. They become a source of inspiration and of hope for anxious learners.
For Teachers/Support Staff who are Confident in Mathematics
Teachers who are confident in mathematics often struggle to understand maths anxiety in learners in order to create a feeling of safety in the classroom, know when and how to check in with learners.
For those who are confident in mathematics, it is important to learn coaching skills such as listening and asking good questions in order to understand maths anxiety.
