Highlighted Session: Foundational Numeracy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Research on improving teaching and learning in primary school

Group Submission Type: Highlighted Paper Session

Proposal

Improving foundational numeracy is essential for low- and middle-income countries to provide basic education of adequate quality for their citizenry. Learning outcomes are presently so low in primary math education that business as usual investments will not be sufficient to ensure needed gains in achievement. In 2017 86% of girls and 80% of boys did not reach minimum proficiency levels in Sub-Saharan Africa (UIS, 2017). Given the pandemic, outcomes are likely even lower today. To this end, this panel presents three research studies all focused on improving the quality of teaching mathematics in primary education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

There is a myriad of challenges to improving the quality of instruction in mathematics- teachers have limited training and often struggle themselves with mathematics; there is a lack of resources; students often do not speak the language of instruction; classrooms are overcrowded. There is a lack of research on how best to improve learning, and what types of interventions best support teachers. The three research studies in this panel all aim to increase our knowledge of early grade numeracy teaching and learning in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The first presentation explores how teacher-researcher partnerships influence teachers’ teaching practices and pupils’ learning experiences in the teaching and learning of mathematics in Ghanaian primary schools. Teachers were engaged in the co-creation of lesson plans and instructional materials, using student learning outcomes as a guide in this effort. This paper speaks to the importance of collaboration amongst teachers as a professional development tool.

The second presentation describes an intervention aimed as supporting teachers to encourage children to use more sophisticated strategies to solve operations problems in Grade 2 and 3 in South Africa. The study shows how a carefully structured professional development program aimed at mental math strategies led to positive increases in students’ problem-solving strategies.

The third presentation presents a study conducted in South Africa aiming to increase teachers’ knowledge of math content and pedagogy via WhatsApp messaging service. The study used interviews and data from the app to better understand how teachers used and learned from the WhatsApp platform. Given the cost of in-person trainings, this study will discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with a low-cost tech professional development program.

Reference:
UIS (2017). More Than One-Half of Children and Adolescents Are Not Learning Worldwide UIS Fact Sheet No. 46 | September 2017.

Sub Unit

• Global Mathematics Education SIG

Organizer

• Wendi Ralaingita, RTI International

Chair

• Yasmin Sitabkhan, RTI International

Individual Presentations

• Co-Creation: The Paradigm Shift in Teaching and Learning Problem-Solving in Basic Mathematics - Ernest Ampadu, KTH- The Royal Institute of technology

• Developing Teachers’ competence in teaching mental mathematics in Grades 2 and 3 - Mmatsela Kate Sehowa, University of the Witwatersrand; Anthony Essien, University of The Witwatersrand

• Improving Teachers' Founational Math Content and Pedagogy through a Whatsapp-based platform - Andrew Barrett, OLICO Maths Education

Discussant

• Mercy Kazima, University of Malawi