Bilateral (Hong Kong) The effects of social pedagogical contexts in the teaching of primary mathematics: facilitating learning in two cultures

This bilateral research is being conducted in England and Hong Kong to develop teachers' understanding and ability to use collaborative groupwork effectively in primary mathematics. The research addresses current and complementary areas of government concern in both regions: Hong Kong is outstandingly successful in international mathematics competitions but current policy is to encourage more pupil activity and groupwork in classrooms and move away from text-book and teacher-led methods. In England, on the other hand, primary teachers are very familiar with using interactive methods and groupwork but successive governments have been anxious to improve mathematics performance in international competitions. The newly published Vorderman (2011) review of mathematics calls for 'urgent steps to be taken to improve the mathematics background of teachers in primary schools' (p.35), since 'many lack subject knowledge in mathematics, and the confidence that goes with it' (p.3). Mathematical subject knowledge is not enough however, as Sir Peter Williams' review of primary mathematics teaching for the previous government concluded: 'it is a combination of deep subject knowledge and pedagogical skills that is required to promote learning' (p.7) since 'only by constructive dialogue ... in the classroom can logic and reasoning be fully developed' (p.3). He pointed out, however, that research on the effects of groupwork in primary mathematics is scarce and equivocal. Furthermore, despite general familiarity with groupwork, England's primary teachers rarely implement it in the best ways to meet their objectives, and are least likely to use groupwork in mathematics (Kutnick, Blatchford & Baines, 2002). This project therefore aims to train primary teachers in England and Hong Kong to understand how best to use collaborative small groupwork and enable them to exchange their professional expertise to improve children's mathematical thinking and the quality of classroom discussion.

While research on groupwork in primary mathematics is scarce in England, there is ample research from the US showing that groupwork can improve children's learning and attitudes in mathematics (Webb, 2009). In England, this project follows up the ESRC-funded 'SPRinG' Project (Social Pedagogical Research into Groupwork) directed by Blatchford, Galton and Kutnick from 2001 to 2004. The SPRinG research found positive effects of groupwork on achievement, attitudes and motivation in English, Mathematics and Science between ages 5 - 7 and 11-14, provided that it was implemented according to social pedagogical principles. This means careful planning of group sizes, group membership, type of task, teacher's role and so on to maximise the benefits of groupwork for the particular task. In the early 2000s, however, the national numeracy strategy prevented study of groupwork in mathematics at ages 8 - 11. This project will fill that gap in our knowledge of whether and how groupwork can improve 10 year olds' mathematical thinking and achievement.

The project will set up a 'community of practice' between 10 English and 10 Hong Kong teachers of 10 year olds using internet communication and video exchange between teachers. In face to face meetings in each country, the research teams will develop teachers' understanding of social pedagogic principles and how to apply them to groupwork in their teaching. By exchanging videos of groupwork in their classrooms they can learn from each other's teaching. Classroom observation, video and tests of pupil achievement and teachers' confidence in mathematics and groupwork will be used to measure progress from start to end of the project, and to compare the trained groups' results with a control group of teachers in each region. The aim is to establish professional relationships between the teachers such that the process of collegial professional development will be sustainable after the project ends.

The immediate beneficiaries will be the user communities of teachers and pupils in 10 to 20 primary schools in both England and Hong Kong, while several longer term academic, societal and economic impacts can be identified. Benefits, through links with Hong Kong, to the English teachers' self-efficacy to teach mathematics, and subject knowledge are in-line with UK government policy advice (Williams 2008; Vorderman 2011) to improve international pupil performance, seen as crucial to Britain's economic competitiveness. The Hong Kong teachers will benefit from English teachers' knowledge of groupwork. The capacity of collaborative groupwork to increase sustained pupil interaction and raise the cognitive level of discourse supports Hong Kong's current 'Learning to learn' policy to increase groupwork (CDC, 2001). This research will inform policy review and development in both regions.
In the short term, children's psychological health and well-being will be enhanced as groupwork improves attitudes, motivation, engagement, and achievement in subjects such as science and English. When implemented under social pedagogic conditions, the same benefits should accrue in mathematics in both regions. In the SPRinG project groupwork helped to motivate disaffected and disruptive pupils to participate in learning (Pell et al., 2007). This re-engagement will benefit these pupils' self-esteem, quality of life, and, in the longer term might keep them out of trouble, thus enhancing their own and their communities' social health. Training in how to work collaboratively, to formulate rules, adopt roles and practise argumentation, should increase children's teamwork skills, and hence their later employability, effectiveness, and ultimately, productivity. Beyond this, by articulating, explaining and defending their ideas they will develop communication skills and confidence to speak in larger assemblies. Long-term, these qualities of active citizenship will prepare them, at the wider societal level, for participation in local and national democracy.
The development of teachers' pedagogical expertise and understanding of how to implement successful groupwork will improve their effectiveness as public servants. Positive student attitudes and the capacity to remotivate difficult pupils will increase job satisfaction by reducing a time-consuming stress in teaching (Galton & MacBeath 2008) which affects recruitment and retention. Direct correspondence between teachers in Hong Kong and England, through the community of practice, and 'buddy' pairings, should culturally enrich teachers' professional lives, and, potentially create cross-cultural inter-school partnerships. Professional development through 'lesson study' is common in Hong Kong and being encouraged in England (Williams, 2008). It is inherently collegial, thus assisting impact and sustainability, and strengthening within and between school professional partnerships.
Academics in teacher education in both regions with interests in pedagogy, classroom interaction, cooperative learning and mathematics, will benefit from new data for the conflicting evidence on groupwork in primary mathematics. This project will tackle several sources of inconsistency in previous research. In the medium term, it will add to knowledge of the relationship between mathematical subject knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (Rowland et al., 2005). The resultant academic impacts, therefore, will be to enrich teaching and learning, and contribute to knowledge in this area. The knowledge exchange between Hong Kong and English teachers on mathematics teaching and interactive teaching approaches has mutual benefits for international academic achievement. Finally, the research will increase research capacity through training in systematic observation, and critical analysis of mathematics teaching through the application of the Knowledge Quartet (Rowland et al., 2005).