I’ve Spent Years Studying How Children Actually Learn Mathematics
Most maths tutors never study how to teach. I find it astonishing.
They may have a degree, they may know the syllabus inside out. But they’ve never studied how mathematical understanding is actually built and crucially how to rebuild it when it’s broken. There are hundreds of books on mathematics education. Very few tutors have read even a single one.
I am obsessed with how people learn mathematics, particularly those with Dyscalculia or maths difficulties. I read books all year round, attend and present at conferences, workshops, and am in constant conversation with some of the world’s leading mathematics educators. I also host my own maths education videocast and run a Facebook group of over 1500 professional maths tutors.
In the UK, nearly half a million people are engaged in teaching mathematics professionally across all levels* — from primary classrooms to private tutoring. Yet only a tiny fraction actively seek professional development. It is this tiny, yet influential community that I am a part of.
Courses & Workshops Attended
- Weekly Dyscalculia Teaching Webinars – Professor Mahesh Sharma
- Complete Mathematics Conferences – 3 times a year, see below
- Algebra Tiles Masterclass (2020)
- Dyscalculia Workshop – British Dyslexia Association (2019)
- Making Maths Videos – London (2019)
- Maths with Manipulatives & Puzzles (2019)
- Cognitive Science in Maths Teaching (2018)
- Concrete–Pictorial–Abstract & Language Methods (2018)
- Bar Modelling / Algebra Tiles / Paper Folding (2017)
- Dyscalculia Training – Patricia Babtie (2015)
Conferences Attended – Complete Mathematics
| 2025 #MathsConf38 – Oldbury (my blog review) | 2024 #MathsConf36 – Sheffield #MathsConf35 – Leicester |
| 2023 #MathsConf33 – Leeds #MathsConf32 – Derby #MathsConf31 – Farnborough | 2022 #MathsConf30 – Manchester #MathsConf29 – Kettering #MathsConf28 – Gloucester (my blog review) |
| 2021 #MathsConf27 – Ashford #MathsConf26 – Online #MathsConf25 – Online | 2020 #MathsConf24 – Online (my blog review) #MathsConf23 – Online #MathsConf22 – Manchester |
| 2019 #MathsConf21 – Peterborough #MathsConf19 – Penistone (my blog review) #MathsConf18 – Bristol (my blog review) | 2018 #MathsConf17 – Birmingham (my blog review) #MathsConf15 – Manchester (my blog review) |
| 2017 #MathsConf13 – Sheffield (my blog review) #MathsConf10 – London (my blog review) |
Books Read on Education
- Teaching for Mastery – Mark McCourt
- Mathematical Tasks: The Bridge Between Teaching and Learning – Chris McGrane and Mark McCourt
- Arithmetic – Paul Lockhart
- A Mathematicians Lament – Paul Lockhart
- Measurement – Paul Lockhart
- Visible Maths – Peter Mattock
- Conceptual Maths – Peter Mattock
- How I wish I’d Taught Maths – Craig Barton
- The Dyscalculia Solution – Patricia Babtie
- 100 Ideas on Dyscalculia Teaching – Patricia Babtie
- Dyscalculia : From Science to Education – Brian Butterworth
- Pi in the Sky: Counting, Thinking, and Being- John D Barrow
- History of Mathematics – Carl B. Boyer, Uta C. Merzbach, Isaac Asimov (Foreword)
- Learning and Teaching Early Math: The Learning Trajectories Approach (Studies in Mathematical Thinking and Learning Series) – Clements and Sarama
- The Mathematicians’ Library: The Books That Unlocked The Power Of Numbers (Liber Historica) – Thomas Briggs
- The Art of Statistics: Learning from Data – David Spiegelhalter
- The Next Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy – Tim Harford
- How to Make the World Add Up: Ten Rules for Thinking Differently About Numbers – Tim Harford
- Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors – Matt Parker (I went to the book launch and got a signed copy of the book)
- Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World – Cal Newport
- Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life – Nir Eyal
- Code Green on Dyscalculia : A Guide for Educators, Parents, Counselors, and other Professionals – Helmy Faber
- 100 Ideas for Primary Teachers: Maths (100 Ideas for Teachers) – Shannen Doherty (I hosted a book launch livestream for this)
- Numbers and the Making of Us: Counting and the Course of Human Cultures – Caleb Everett
- How We Got to Now: Six Innovations that Made the Modern World – Steven Johnson
- Atomic Habits – James Clear
- Made to Stick: Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck – Chip Heath
- Cal Newport – Deep Work
- So Good They Can’t Ignore You – Cal Newport
- Key Ideas in Teaching Mathematics: Research-Based Guidance For Ages 9-19 – by Anne Watson, Keith Jones, Dave Pratt
- Care in Mathematics : Education Alternative Educational Spaces and Practices – Anne Watson (I hosted a book launch livestream for this)
- Making Every Maths Lesson Count: Six Principles to Support Great Maths Teaching (Making Every Lesson Count series) – Emma McCrea
- How To Enhance Your Mathematics Subject Knowledge: Number and Algebra for Secondary Teachers (Oxford Teaching Guides) – Jemma Sherwood
- A Compendium Of Mathematical Methods: A handbook for school teachers – Joanne Morgan
- Maths on the Back of an Envelope: Clever ways to (roughly) calculate anything. An entertaining introduction to mental maths and problem solving – Rob Eastway
- Math with Bad Drawings: Illuminating the Ideas That Shape Our Reality – Ben Orlin
- Rekenrek 101: Pushing Mathematical Understanding – Amy How
- A Concise Course in Advanced Level Statistics with worked examples – D J. Crawshaw and Joan Sybil Chambers
- How Not to Be Wrong: The Hidden Maths of Everyday Life – Jordan Ellenberg
- How Children Learn Mathematics: A Guide For Parents And Teachers – Pamela Liebeck
- Engineering Mathematics – K.A Stroud
- Yes, but why? Teaching for understanding in mathematics – Ed Southall
- Overcoming Difficulties with Number: Supporting Dyscalculia and Students who Struggle with Maths – Ronit Bird
- Mastery: The Keys to Success And Long-Term Fulfillment – George Leonard
- Introducing Mathematics – Jerry Ravetz
More books being added to this list.
Guest Writing & Collaboration
- WikiExpert – Online Tutoring
- Pearson SEND (Dyscalculia tutoring)
- HUE Classroom visualiser camera
- Athena Tuition (Ten questions on STEM)
* The figure of nearly half a million maths educators in the UK was calculated using data and projections I requested via ChatGPT. I’ll publish the full working and references in an upcoming blog post.
