One day in the staff room. . . .
Imagine you are in charge of teaching mathematics at a large secondary school. There are students every year who need to sit external exams. The stakes are therefore quite high.
At the first team meeting of the year you sit down and set out your stall to the maths staff. This is what you suggest. No more teaching from the front. No more setting of work and testing. Instead the maths teacher becomes a companion to each student on their journey towards full numeracy.
As a teacher you cannot insist on the right way to do something, you can only show the student what you have learned on your own arithmetical journey. In addition you may only share your experience when the student is ready. The student must indicate that they are ready to hear your story. As for the rest of your time, it is spent sharing time and space with the students, to build a relationship, in order that they may begin to take steps by themselves on the journey.
