Embedding employability skills
in teaching maths
Janice Richards
MEI
Tricia Hartley
Campaign for
Learning
Jamie Allen
Ravens Wood
School
What are employability
skills and who needs
them?
Session
Outline
Learning in ways
that develop
employability
skills
Case study: A
coaching and
mentoring
programme
Group
discussion
Your contributions
are welcome.
Please do share
your experience
and expertise.
In pairs…
In 1 minute:
• List at least 5 employability skills that
can be developed at school/college
• Identify 1 which is particularly well
facilitated by learning maths
What are
employability
Skills?
Who needs them?
Who needs them?
Who needs them?
…from
school
leavers
Source:
The CBI
Education
and Skills
Survey
2011
“Over two thirds of employers (70%)
want to see the development of
employability skills among young
people at school and college made a
top priority – this does not require a
new qualification but rather
embedding the skills in the
curriculum, as the best schools and
colleges already do.”
Source: The CBI Education and Skills Survey 2011
…to graduates
1 in 12 graduates
without work six
months after leaving
education and 40%
failing to get graduatecalibre posts more
than two years after
graduation.
Levels of employer satisfaction
with the employability skills of
graduates are higher than for
school and college leavers, but
there are still alarming
weaknesses in skills around
team working (20%) and
problem-solving (19%).
The government wants universities to better
collaborate with industry and made key
recommendations to improve graduate employability.
What has this got to do with
teaching maths?
It may help to
engage
students
“Maths lessons are seen
as difficult, irrelevant
and boring by about a
third of teenagers…”
“Teenagers had clear
ideas about how maths
teaching could be
improved, with 54%
saying it should be
geared to more practical
scenarios.”
It may be approved of by Ofsted
Mathematics: made to measure, Ofsted 2012:
It remains a concern that secondary pupils
seemed so readily to accept the view that
learning mathematics is important but dull. They
frequently told inspectors that in other subjects
they enjoyed regular collaboration on tasks in
pairs or groups and discussion of their ideas, yet
they often did not do so in their mathematics
lessons, or even expect to do so.
It may even improve the
learning of maths…
Learning in ways that develop
employability skills
Tricia Hartley, Chief Executive, Campaign for Learning
Rearrange these words:
• Grandmother
• Eggs
• Teaching …
phrase:
Source: CBI Skills Survey 2009
Lifelong Learning?
Learning to Learn
Action Research Programme
• 11 year action research programme in
schools, extending into FE and HE
• Explored what works in creating
confident, competent lifelong learners
• Based on introducing classroom
change, evaluating impact, sharing &
analysing results
• Partnership with 5 Local Authorities, 2
FE Colleges, 3 Universities
• Identified positive impacts on students’
achievement, motivation, self esteem
– and teacher morale!
www.campaignforlearning.org.uk
Sutton Trust/ EEF Pupil Premium Toolkit 2013
Intervention
Cost Rating
Strength of
Evidence
Average
Impact
Feedback
££
***
+ 8 months
Metacognition & selfregulation
££
****
+ 8 months
Peer tutoring
££
****
+ 6 months
Early Years intervention
£££££
****
+ 6 months
One to one tuition
££££
****
+ 5 months
Homework (secondary)
£
***
+ 5 months
Collaborative learning
£
****
+ 5 months
www://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit
“ Since we cannot know what
knowledge will be most needed in the
future, it is senseless to try to teach it
in advance.
Instead, we should try to turn out
people who love learning so much and
learn so well that they will be able to
learn whatever needs to be learned."
John Holt: ‘How Children Fail’, 1966
Case study:
Ravens Wood School’s
Coaching and Mentoring
Programme
Ravens Wood School
Mathematics Department
Leading by Example
Jamie Allen
Chairman of the Sixth Form Leadership Group
Sixth Form Leadership Group
Sixth Form Leadership Group 2012 - 2013
Taking Classes
Revision
Ma3
The Chairmen
Ben Andrews
2011 - 2012
Jack Jewell
2012 - 2013
Jamie Allen
2013 - 2014
Coaching and Mentoring
Coaches and Mentors 2012 - 2013
One to One Mentoring
Leading Lessons
ILM Level 2 Coaching and
Mentoring Accreditation
Key Characteristics
Active Listener
Honesty
Integrity
Organisational Skills
Teamwork
Leadership
Empathy
Passion
Ambition
Diversity of Mentoring
The Final Word from Jack
There is an inspiring culture of
peer mentoring and support, and
competition at the highest end of
the attainment spectrum that
continually raises the bar and
pushes
the
boundaries.
Jack Jewell, Chairman 2012 - 2013
Group discussion
1. Think of 2 ways in which you
already develop employability
skills in your lessons (2 mins)
2. Working in pairs, identify 2 new
ways in which you could do this.
(5 mins)
3. Share 1 new way with the group
(5 mins)
Group discussion: New
approaches
Conclusion
• Thank you for your contributions today
• Do you think these ideas might help you
in your teaching?
• Should MEI develop these ideas any
further?
Some ideas to take away
• Class discussions https://www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/39312
• Communication skills - Property Tycoon activity
http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Extra-CurricularProperty-Tycoon-6028217/
• Developing team-working skills
http://nrich.maths.org/6933
• ILM Coaching and Mentoring level 2 Award for Young
Learners:
https://www.i-lm.com/~/media/ILM%20Website/Documents/Information%20f
or%20centres/BulkVRQs/Bulk%20VRQs/Qual_Spec_L2_Awa
rd_in_Mentoring_for_YL_Oct_2011%20pdf.ashx