shis the focus away from the deficiencies of the learner to the characteriscs of the task. If a task is in the ‘anxiety’ zone it is because there are underpinning skills and knowledge that have yet to be acquired. It may be that assessment for learning (AfL) is so effecve, not only because of all the well known cognive reasons, but also because of the affecve impact. When AfL is done well, students regularly experience sasfacon, and somemes joy, when they succeed at challenging maths.


The zones metaphor was helpful for various reasons: it reframed feelings of mild anxiety and frustraon. They were seen as a necessary and a sign of being in the growth zone. It was helpful with extreme emoonal reacons e.g., when a student had maths-­‐induced panic aacks as it enabled her to appreciate that feeling nervous was normal and could be managed (the panic aacks had stopped by the autumn half term). The ‘zones’ gave a simple vocabulary that could be used to discuss the impact of the maths acvity on their emoonal state e.g., a student on the ausc spectrum said, ‘My problem is I don’t have a growth zone. I go straight from comfort to panic.’ This led to a conversaon about techniques which the student could use to enlarge her maths growth zone; they appear to be helping. The zones metaphor also provided a framework for the growth mind-­‐set messages, e.g., a sign of being in the growth or learning zone is struggling and making mistakes.


The growth mind-­‐set messages can seem simplisc and over opmisc; changing habits of thought is complex and it is unreasonable to expect miracles. The importance of the wider socio-­‐psychological context and whether the maths being taught is of relevance to the students also needs to be taken into account; so too does the fact that some students require individualised and specialist support. Specialist support might have been the crucial missing element for the 3/19 students who appear to have made lile progress over the past two years. It could also be that college maths was felt to be irrelevant and not worth the bother.


So what does this mean for the socio-­‐psychological aspects of my pracce next year? Like last year I will connue giving the growth mind-­‐set messages (hopefully in a culturally sensive way) and will set them within the growth zone model. The emphasis has been on enabling individual students to develop mathemacal resilience. Next year I aim to explore ways of building a resilient and supporve learning community. The emphasis will be on how each student can contribute to the mathemacal progress and well-­‐being of the whole class. There is substanal evidence, both ancient wisdom and modern psychology (Seligman, 2011), that shiing focus away from individual concerns to the group’s welfare benefits everyone. So worth a try in the maths classroom!


References Bandura, A. (1997) Self Efficacy. The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman


Boaler, J. (2014) How to Learn Math: for Students. Stanford University on-­‐line Lagunita (MOOC). Retrieved from:hps://lagunita.stanford.edu/courses/Educaon/EDUC115-­‐S/Spring2014/about accessed 6.6.2016


Johnston-­‐Wilder, S., Lee, C., Garton, E., Goodlad, S., & Brindley, J. (2013) Developing Coaches for Mathemacal Resilience. University of Warwick; Open University; The Progression Trust. hp://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/73856/7/ WRAP_ICERI%20paper%20SJW%20et%20al.pdf accessed 6.6.2016


Organisaon for Economic Cooperaon and Development (OECD) Programme for Internaonal Student Assessment (PISA) (2012) hp://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-­‐2012-­‐results.htm accessed 6.6.2016


Seligman, M.E.P. (2011). Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-­‐Being. New York: Free Press.


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