Craig Barton - How I Wish I Had Taught Maths Reflections on research, conversations with experts, and 12 years of mistakes.

First Published 2018

by John Catt Educational Ltd,
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2018 Craig Barton

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ISBN: 978 1 913808 06 8

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About the author

Craig Barton has been teaching maths since 2004, predominantly in two comprehensive schools in the sunny North West of England Range High School in Formby and Thornleigh Salesian College in Bolton. Four years into his career, Craig was appointed an Advanced Skills Teacher (AST), giving him the opportunity to work with and learn from many teachers and students in a wide variety of schools. Since 2009, he has been the Secondary Mathematics adviser for the Times Educational Supplement (TES), the largest professional network of teachers in the world, reviewing, creating and sharing resources with hundreds of thousands of teachers.

Craig is the creator of two of the countrys most popular maths websites: www.mrbartonmaths.com, which provides free resources to teachers and students all around the world; and www.diagnosticquestions.com, a formative assessment website hosting the worlds largest collection of high-quality maths diagnostic multiple-choice questions, which aims to help students and teachers identify, understand and resolve key misconceptions. Craig is the host of the Mr Barton Maths Podcast, interviewing leading figures from the world of education, such as Dylan Wiliam, Doug Lemov, Daisy Christodoulou and Dan Meyer.

Craig has been fortunate enough to give talks, run workshops and work with teachers and students all over the world, from Bangkok to Basingstoke, and is the author of three (non-maths) novels. Fingers crossed he is also still married to Kate when you are reading this.

Reviews

How I Wish Id Taught Maths is an extraordinary and important book. Part guide to research, part memoir, part survival handbook, its a wonderfully accessible guide to the latest research on teaching mathematics, presented in a disarmingly honest and readable way. I know of no other book that presents as much usable research evidence on the dos and donts of mathematics teaching in such a clear and practical way. No matter how long you have been doing it, if you teach mathematics from primary school to university this book is for you.

Dylan Wiliam, Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment, UCL @dylanwiliam

How I Wish Id Taught Maths is a rare and wonderful book, one that could only have been written by someone with Craigs devotion to teaching and willingness to become immersed in the research literature on how people learn. In clear, concrete, and compelling terms, Craig illustrates evidence-based ways to upgrade mathematics instruction, ways that are often unintuitive and/or at odds with prevailing educational practices. It makes us wish that young people the world over might have the good fortune to find themselves in classes that incorporate Craigs insights. In fact, whereas Craig writes, Ill be honest this book has been created for maths teachers, we think that Craigs lessons learned can, with some creativity, enhance any teaching.

Robert A. Bjork and Elizabeth L. Bjork, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Its rare that we change our habits and beliefs once they are established cognitive bias is strong in us. And that is what makes this book so exceptional. Craig describes not only what hes learned from a methodical study of cognitive science but how hes changed over time despite his initial success. Theres a joyful relentlessness to Craigs study of teaching methods. He starts out telling us he wants to know every detail, and what makes the book so exceptional is just that the way the story of how something he learned about teaching played out in a specific problem or lesson, was refined and improved. Its an incredibly useful book for maths teachers especially, but really for anyone who teaches and cares about getting it right.

Doug Lemov, former teacher and author of Teach like a Champion @Doug_Lemov

This is a really thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion of a series of important and practical questions about the best way to teach.

Daisy Christodoulou, author of Seven Myths about Education and Director of Education at No More Marking @daisychristo

This book has the potential to have a huge impact on the way maths is taught. It is so refreshing to see a maths teacher honestly critiquing their own practice and suggesting alternative approaches based on sound research and analysis. Craigs warm and relatable style of writing is a pleasure to read. His book is brought to life by hilarious anecdotes and humble reflections. Craig summarises the key points of the relevant research succinctly and his advice to teachers is perfectly pitched and instantly transferable to any maths classroom. For the sake of our current and future students, I certainly hope that this book becomes essential reading for maths teachers.

Jo Morgan, maths teacher and creator of www.resourceaholic.com @mathsjem

Teaching is on the cusp of a new era, bringing it out from the dark ages where dont smile before Christmas and because weve always done it that way is replaced with evidence-backed approaches based on insights from research into cognitive science and psychology. In a world where the highest-impacting teaching approaches are often counter-intuitive, experience alone cannot be relied upon; we need these research-informed insights in order to improve as practitioners.

History will look back on How I Wish Id Taught Maths as a seminal book leading mainstream teachers into this new world. And who else would you want to narrate us into the unknown than Craig Barton, the leading maths educator in the UK? A role model for excellence in professional development, Craigs enthusiasm, intellect and critical skills navigate readers through vitally important and complex concepts with ease.