Response from learner two, James

As mentioned in the introduction to this section, James is a learner who was predicted to achieve at least two grades higher in GCSE mathematics compared to his other subjects. Discussions with his other subject teachers indicated that this is down to him having a reading age of a seven-year-old. Although he had a scribe and reader to support him in his examinations, he did not get the support needed with reading and writing outside of school where he was expected to carry out his homework and background reading for subjects. This was most notable in English, history and science.

163

James is a quiet learner and my main concern about the discussion with him was that he would not be honest and instead tell me what he thought I wanted to hear. To help reduce the impact of this, I reminded James at the start of each discussion that I wanted honest opinions and I made sure there was evidence of what I report here in his journal and observed in lessons. It is worth noting that the majority of his journal entries were very brief, and many were partially illegible.

During all three discussions, James indicated that he felt he was making good progress in mathematics. However, the way he described good progress changed. Initially he said he was making good progress in mathematics because he was doing better in mathematics compared to his other subjects. During the second discussion, he based good progress on understanding new topics. He talked about how quickly he had picked up new topics such as trigonometry and histograms, which he knew were grade B and grade A topics. Because he was targeted a grade C in his GCSE mathematics he felt this was the best indication of his progress. In the final discussion, he referred purely to predicted grades when describing progress. When asked if there were any specific topics in which he felt he had achieved well, he mentioned that he had done well in some of the grade B topics. He knew this because of the marks achieved in his homework tasks. It is clear from discussion and observations that James enjoys the challenge of working on topics that are above a grade C and I have seen an increased satisfaction when, in his opinion, he has mastered one of these topics.

When asked the second question, about a lesson in which he feels he made good progress, he initially talked about lessons where he is able to work through a set

164

of questions that go from easy to hard. To him, good progress was about getting all or most of the answers correct. In the second discussion, he gave a similar response. I asked him if he felt he had made good progress in the intervention we had recently done which investigated straight line graphs using dynamic graphing software. He said he enjoyed it and did manage to discover what the ‘m’ and ‘c’ stood for in the lesson but felt it took him a long time to discover so would not describe it as good progress, implying that he believes working quickly is a sign of being good at mathematics. In the final discussion, he mentioned that he thought he had made good progress when we were exploring the number grid and he was able to use his skills in algebra to prove that the difference was always the same for any square on the grid. During the number grid intervention, his reaction and excitement when he found he could use algebra to solve a number problem made this a ‘eureka’ moment for him. He was seen to be genuinely amazed that he could use his skills in algebra to solve a number problem and was very keen to share what he had found with me.

When asked about a lesson or activity in which he felt he made the least progress, his answer was consistent in all three discussions. To him, the lessons in which he made the least progress were the ones that involved the most reading and writing. He felt this was a barrier to his learning that was holding him back in his other subjects and got frustrated when his poor reading skills impacted on his mathematics. This was seen in observations, especially when we looked at the history of mathematics and worded problems and in mock examinations.

165

The next question was about what he felt he needed to do to get better at mathematics. In all three discussions, he mentioned the ‘wordy’ questions. He said when he works with someone, he is usually able to work out what he needs to do but if he is working independently, he finds it difficult. He said that main problem was that these questions often had words that confused him, for example ethnic names. He found he spent so long trying to understand what was being asked that he did not have enough time to answer. As a consequence, he often left out worded problems in examinations.

In the second discussion, I asked him what strategies he had for when he got stuck. He mentioned that he has tried highlighting the key bits of information but he struggles to identify what these are. He did try to read over the problem a few times to help him understand what the question was asking, but often struggled. He also said he had worked through the Stuck Poster and found that working with a peer was the most effective strategy when stuck.

In the discussion that took place soon after I had done the intervention that looked at real life problems, I asked him if this had made a difference. He said he felt more confident in solving worded questions but said that he still struggled at times to work out the key bits of information. He did find it useful when the question was read out to him two or three times, which is what will happen in examinations, but found that the discussions about possible strategies was the most effective way to stop being stuck, something that will not be allowed in examinations.

166

Discussions with James, observations of him working in lessons and looking at his work showed that James’ motivation for doing well in mathematics was because it was, in his opinion, the only subject he was going to get a good grade in, due to him being able to succeed despite his low literacy levels. He mentioned on more than one occasion that mathematics was his favourite subject except when the topics or task involved a lot of reading.