Iain George, a headteacher, Anne Farrell, the teacher in the KS1/2 Maths programme 'Just Division' and Richard Dunne, a maths consultant, look back at Anne's lesson featured in 'Just Division'. For each calculation, they debate by visiting teachers in two Birmingham primary schools to compare their practices with Anne's. For 6÷2, they talk about grouping and sharing, debating which is more straightforward for children's understanding. For 3÷1/2, they find out that in most schools, this would not be taught at Year 3, which challenges Anne to justify why she teaches division of fractions. A range of teachers explain how they might teach 600÷200. Many would not, except perhaps to the most able, but they show number lines and covering the zeros to make a connection with 6÷2. The central debate is whether teaching children a variety of methods for division and allowing them choice is more successful than teaching and embedding one method from which they can branch out.

Video Series: KS1/2 Maths
Release Date 2006