Nuffield Curriculum Centre

Maths issues

Blogging its way to a brighter future for maths

www.ncetm.org.uk

Today I have been to a stakeholder meeting organised by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM).

To its credit the NCETM has set up a web site that encourages interaction - but that means that it has to live with the interchanges on the site about the troubled start to setting up the organisation.

Some of its forums and blogs are currently very quiet, but where a topic 'hits the spot', there can be a lively interchange.

NCETM is an umbrella body. It coordinates but does not itself 'deliver'. The focus is on professional development for the 260 000+ teachers of mathematics in schools and colleges.

We were asked to discuss what the priorities should be. My contribution was to suggest that NCETM should worry less about the supply of CPD and concentrate on building up demand - by helping to change the culture so that CPD becomes an expectation and norm for teachers. For a start the NCETM web portal needs to be much more customer focussed - linking to the needs of teachers rather than the interests of producers and providers.

NCETM will be a great success if the quality of its work matches that of the lunch they provided at the Royal Society.

Comment