Teaching mathematics after hours

ABSTRACT

The quantum of instruction time allocated to curriculum subjects such as mathematics facilitates greater exposure to knowledge and skill development, leading to higher levels of achievement. There are a number of manifestations of time to consider when investigating the quantum of time in mathematics education. The OECD have investigated the time allocated to mathematics by schools internationally, while also reporting on the prevalence of private tuition and time spent on homework. However, to date, no attention has been afforded to the provision of ‘hidden curriculum time’ for mathematics. This study seeks to advance the work of the OECD and describes a case study that sought to ascertain if teachers in Ireland provide additional mathematics lessons outside of school hours. The authors examined how prevalent this practice is, how many additional minutes some students receive as a result of this practice and ascertained teachers’ reasons for providing/not providing these additional mathematics classes. The results from this case study show that the majority of teachers at Senior Cycle provide these classes while a large proportion of Junior Cycle teachers also do. In extreme cases, these additional classes expose students to an additional 88.3 h of mathematics over the two-year Senior Cycle programme.

KEYWORDS:

• Inequity
• mathematics education
• mathematics instruction time
• hidden curriculum

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In Ireland a secondary school are privately owned and managed. They are under the trusteeship of religious communities, boards of governors or individuals. Vocational are owned and run by local Education Training Boards while vocational and community are managed by boards of management which are representative of local interests. The schools are financed entirely by the Department of Education and Skills.

2. This figure was calculated based on 33.1 school weeks per year.

3. Twenty-four of the seventy-two teachers who cited lack of necessity as a reason indicated in their responses that it was ordinary level they were teaching.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Irish Research Council [13364];

Notes on contributors

Niamh O’Meara

Dr Niamh O’Meara is a lecturer in mathematics education in EPI*STEM, the national centre for STEM education, University of Limerick at the School of Education, A1-065, Main Building, University of Limerick, Limerick; email: [email protected]. Her research interests include the knowledge required for mathematics teaching, the allocation of time to mathematics at post-primary level and investigating pre-service teachers’ conceptual understanding.

Mark Prendergast

Dr Mark Prendergast is an assistant professor in mathematics education at Trinity College Dublin. His research interests are in teacher education and mathematics education, with a particular interest in the teaching and learning of algebra at second level.