David Thomas
@dmthomas90
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CEO of @AxiomMaths, raising the next generation of mathematicians. OBE for services to education. Former headteacher and DfE advisor.
Joined November 2010
Maths is geopolitics now.
KPI: Population fraction at PISA Level 6 math. Possible that PRC may reach 10x number of US L6 performers, and equal to rest-of-world ex-China. Very few people appreciate this or the consequences. In future, PRC L6s = top STEM talent driving economy.
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RT @ggkuhnle: The difference between "fine" and "thriving" - "meeting expectations" and "excelling" is perhaps not just a problem for maths….
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I need an AI inbox assistant because I can’t cope with reading everyone else’s awful AI generated emails anymore.
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RT @RSylvester1: Government accused of trying to scrap Teach First, which has recruited over 20,000 high flying graduates into schools - my….
observer.co.uk
Leading brand that trains teachers for most deprived areas of the UK to get reprieve after bureaucrats accused of trying to scrap it
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RT @lugaricano: I despair for the UK. No country has better fundamentals to profit from the current global mess, so why is Oxbridge not a r….
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RT @matthewsyed: Huge admiration for @RachelReevesMP for having the guts to go into politics. A 100x braver than the armchair cowards on he….
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RT @SchoolsWeek: 🔬 'Between the ages of 11 and 14, disadvantaged pupils with the strongest SATs scores don’t make the most out of the firm….
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People think this is too hard for children. I disagree. Experiencing the natural currencies of mathematics can and should be a right for every child.
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In real maths there is no great answer book in the sky. We produce proofs that get verified by the community of mathematicians. We produce models that we hone through comparison to empirical observations.
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Don't get me wrong - right answers matter! And exercises with answers for checking are great ways of honing powerful mathematical techniques. But they are not the currency of mathematics, and we're misleading children by implying that they are.
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But neither of these are the currencies of the school curriculum. In school the currency is "right answers", as determined by a sheet in the back of a textbook.
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Pure maths is unique amongst subjects because it can *actually find truth*. It does this through its natural currency - proof. Applied maths is more like science. It builds explanatory power through its natural currency - models.
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Christine's argument is that subjects are each seeking their own distinctive kinds of truth, and that their curricula should help children accumulate the "natural currency of a subject". I've been pondering for months about how this applies to maths.
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New post: Maths as a quest for truth. @Counsell_C talks brilliantly about how subjects are quests for their own distinctive kinds of truth, and how schools induct children into these quests. So what is maths as a quest for truth?.
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This is an extremely cool explainer of how an undergrad built the algorithm that has hugely improved our ability to optimise spaced repetition.
domenic.me
Spaced repetition systems are a well-known way to efficiently learn material. Recent innovations have applied machine learning to greatly improve their scheduling.
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This a thousand times over. I don’t want my children to be taught a “relevant” curriculum. I want them to wonder at things they wouldn’t otherwise have learned.
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RT @PepsMccrea: 🚨🚨NEW PAPER ON INCLUSIVE TEACHING. that I've been working (pretty intensely) on for the last few months. Details below:….
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Been thinking about this all day. With limited curriculum time it's all trade-offs and there's no right answer. But this is fascinating. Why the Wars of the Roses so much more than the Napoleonic Wars? Why so little on the union?.
What do children learn in history in schools?. What modules do they actually take at GCSE and A-Level?. All this, and more, in a new report for @Policy_Exchange by Zachary Marsh and me, published today. Chart below: % state secondary schools teaching the following in KS3.
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