Background
The study on teaching mathematics in primary education in Romania, conducted in 2023 by the British Council, under the coordination of Professor Alf Coles from the University of Bristol, showed that 34% of teachers either did not benefit at all or benefited from less than 6 hours of professional development, and 90% of teachers responded that they want training to support problem-solving skills (91%) and to respond to the individual needs of students (93%). Approximately 75% want training on: mathematics content; mathematics didactics; how to assess mathematical knowledge.
Strategy
Based on the conclusions of the study conducted by the British Council, the InfinitEdu Association developed the SMART project – School Mathematics and the Art of Relevant Teaching for deep understanding, which aims to meet the immediate need for professional development of primary school teachers in order to develop students’ mathematical skills.
The program will pilot a professional development program in a small number of schools, in order to instill more effective teaching-learning-assessment practices in mathematics, educational resource sets will be created for primary school classes, communities of practice will be created at the level of the schools where the program is piloted, and an online community of primary school teachers will be created to share experience from the program.