Survey findings revealing that four in 10 members of the public think mental maths is less important because of technological advances are “really worrying”, a maths expert and former Department for Education adviser has said.
Some 40 per cent of those surveyed think that mental maths is now less important as we have calculators and computers, compared with 38 per cent who do not think its importance has diminished.
The survey - published as part of a report commissioned by the charity Axiom Maths - also revealed that almost half (45 per cent) of respondents believe that “only some people can be good at maths”, compared with a quarter (25 per cent) who disagree.
Technology ‘does not make mental maths less important’
David Thomas, the chief executive of Axiom Maths and a former DfE adviser, said: “I think it’s really worrying that we are split on it. I do not think it is at all the case that technology makes mental maths less important.”
And he said that while “long complicated maths” can be outsourced to computers, “the sort of maths we can do in our heads is not less important”.
The report, based on a survey of 2,000 members of the public, said that its findings also indicate “most people aren’t scared of maths, and the ‘maths phobia’ often reflected in the media doesn’t come across”.
A YouGov survey published last year revealed that four in 10 teachers regularly hear pupils talking negatively about maths.
UK is not ‘anti-maths’ in reality
But today’s research found that 45 per cent of people said they enjoy doing maths while only 26 per cent said they did not.
The report concludes: “By telling ourselves that the UK is anti-maths, we are creating a norm that doesn’t exist in reality.”
The poll also showed that almost three-quarters of respondents (72 per cent) support compulsory study of maths or mathematical skills until age 18, including a majority of every age group.
Findings also show that almost half of all parents (48 per cent) would like their 11- to 16-year-old to study maths at A level, far ahead of English Language (36 per cent).
On the importance of mental maths, Mr Thomas, who is also a former headteacher and maths teacher said: “We could probably do a better job of explaining the importance of number sense. There are a lot of children who are getting a different message from the adults around them and teachers need to be aware of that.”
Government to tackle ‘chronic cultural problem with maths’
The newly-appointed education secretary Bridget Phillipson said last year that a Labour government would upskill primary school teachers to teach “real-world” maths.
And she has previously vowed to “tackle our chronic cultural problem with maths”.
The focus on primary education is far from the post-16 reform that the previous Conservative government was exploring.
Despite an overall strong performance in maths at primary level in England, the report states that there “remains a wide and stubborn gap between the performance of disadvantaged children, as measured by free school meal eligibility, and those not eligible”.
Commenting on the findings Sam Sims, CEO of National Numeracy, said: “We should fully embrace and utilise the available tools and technology, especially when we are under pressure.”
He said there was nothing wrong with using the calculator on your phone to evaluate a supermarket bargain. But he added: “It’s important to understand why one deal is better than another. Having confidence in the information provided by technology is essential, and that stems from a solid foundation in basic numeracy.”
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