Author: Suman Ghosh
The purpose of the taster day was to introduce the Secondary Mathematics Module as part of UCL’s Sustainable Futures CPD module.
The broader aims of the Teaching for Sustainable Futures programme are to support all teachers, no matter what subject and age group they teach, to embed issues related to climate change and sustainability into their teaching. This was the taster day for the module aimed at Secondary Maths Teachers and others who are interested. The module is part of a free, research informed programme.
Mathematics offers a unique understanding of people’s relationships with the world through geometry, datasets and contemporary topics like carbon footprints. The module explores the different ways you can embed relevant data and mathematical concepts like analysing graphs, extrapolating data and modelling situations into your curriculum by drawing on the work of mathematicians, monitoring organisations, and an understanding of the underlying mathematics present in perceiving the world around us through everyday items. The module includes video inputs from maths teachers discussing their experiences of addressing issues of sustainability and climate change in the classroom and academics in the field.
The taster day was well attended. Following an introduction discussing the potential of secondary maths to address issues of climate change and sustainability, there was a summary of each section of the module. The first section, ‘The world revealed through numbers’, was demonstrated from the live site. The section explores how population data is an interesting way for children to start thinking about climate change and sustainability. The section ends with Professor Alf Coles discussing how population data can be used in the classroom and also how stories of hope are important for young people when we discuss these issues.
The second section, ‘Raising sustainability consciousness’, discusses how everyday objects in the classroom, home or shops can be the source of rich mathematical activities relating to climate change and sustainability. Attendees were asked to pick one of the examples from the section, a fair trade box of tea or an aluminium drinks can, and discuss how these could be used in a maths classroom in the context of sustainability and climate change. Well done for participating, those who were there!
The following section, ‘Critical Mathematics’ , explores how we can encourage young people to develop mathematical literacy in relation to issues of climate change and sustainability and approach data and information about our world through the lens of critical maths. Pete Wright introduces the section with a discussion of critical mathematics education. We use an article on climate change from The Times newspaper to demonstrate why it’s important that pupils question data and information around them.
We started with big ideas of global population and the final section, ‘Going local’, is ideas about how a maths department could engage with projects relating sustainability and climate change in their school.
The taster day ended with a short Q and A. Questions included a query about how relevant this module was to primary maths. There is actually a Primary Mathematics Module as part of the programme, and I would encourage everyone, Maths Teachers and others who are interested, to have a look at both modules.
Suman Ghosh
Lecturer in Mathematics Education
UCL, Faculty of Education and Society.
The Teaching Maths for Social Justice Network 