Mathematics mastery is an approach to

mathematics education In contemporary education, mathematics education, known in Europe as the didactics or pedagogy of mathematics – is the practice of teaching, learning and carrying out scholarly research into the transfer of mathematical knowledge. Although re ...

which is based on

mastery learning Mastery learning (or, as it was initially called, "learning for mastery"; also known as "mastery-based learning") is an instructional strategy and educational philosophy, first formally proposed by Benjamin Bloom in 1968. Mastery learning maintai ...

in which most students are expected to achieve a high level of competence before progressing. This technique is used in countries such as China and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

where good results have been achieved and so the approach is now being promoted in the UK by people such as schools minister

Nick Gibb Nicolas John Gibb (born 3 September 1960) is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Schools since October 2022, having previously held the office from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2021. He has served at the Department for ...

. Chinese teachers were brought to the UK to demonstrate the Shanghai mastery approach in 2015. A trial was made in the UK with about 10,000 students of ages 5–6 and 11–12. In one year, test scores indicated that the students were about a month ahead of students in schools using other approaches. This result was considered small but significant. Mathematics mastery is a new way of thinking and teaching, where the whole class moves through content at the same pace and students are given time to think deeply about the maths. The methodology build self-confidence in learners and differentiates through depth rather than acceleration.

References

External links

Mathematics Mastery
– a programme of the Ark charity to support and encourage this approach
Maths Mastery Guide for primary school education
- a deep dive Mathematics education {{maths-stub