Abstract

Many teachers can talk confidently about how manipulatives fit into the popular concrete-pictorial-abstract (CPA) heuristic but fewer can justify the pedagogical virtues of choosing one manipulative over another to deliver specific areas of the primary mathematics curriculum. This session will present preliminary themes from interviews with primary teachers as part of ongoing doctoral research looking at the choices teachers make in their classrooms. A complex landscape of Maths Hubs, Multi Academy Trusts and commercial publishers is influencing not only manipulative choices made but how notions of mastery are defined within primary schools. An overview of preliminary coding themes from this case study research will be considered as well as what these tell us about the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) experiences of the sample group. Conference participants will be given the opportunity throughout the session to answer thought-provoking questions and contribute to wider discussions relating to the research.