RSTAQ: Reviews

Numeracy and Learning Difficulties: Approaches to Teaching and Assessment
by Peter Westwood, 2000, Camberwell Victoria, ACER Press

It is refreshing to read a text where there are no philosophical ambiguities. The author’s approaches are ‘up front’ and accord with the pragmatic approaches adopted by special educators over the years. He cites Alexander (1995) in suggesting that ‘effective classroom interaction and discourse combine three main elements namely:

direct teaching that instructs children in what to do and how best to do it, and that checks for learning;
enquiry that poses problems and offers a challenge to children’s thinking;
scaffolding, that comprises a form of indirect support to help children build on their current level of understanding and develop some independence in their learning.’

While such a hybrid approach to teaching might be considered contentious in some quarters, Westwood demonstrates when and where each of the three approaches are justified. For example in teaching problem solving, he suggests:

‘Most students with learning difficulties need to be taught how to approach a problem without feelings of panic or hopelessness. They must be taught effective ways of approaching any problem.’ (Direct teaching)

Part of this he would suggest is to provide self-monitoring and self-correcting questions that a student might ask himself/herself in the course of solving a Maths problem. A teacher would need to model these questions that provide the scaffolding necessary for its solution. Westwood suggests the following in line with Sternberg (1999):

Later the author suggests in relation to teaching problem solving that ‘encouraging children to try different approaches, rather than drilling one specific way is likely to help them become adaptable and flexible in their approach to mathematics problems’ (enquiry).

One of the great strengths of this text is an annotated list of texts, teaching and assessment resources. Westwood offers clear guidance how these might be useful for teachers. For those STLD’s who may need assistance in developing a stance for the teaching of mathematics, this text is invaluable. It is also extremely useful in pointing out to teachers the main ‘trouble spots’ for students with learning difficulties.

(Available through ACER)