Fostering conceptual mathematical thinking in the early years: a case study

This paper encapsulates some of the key findings of an ESRC-funded project which investigated how teachers can foster successful mathematical thinking in 5-6 year-olds. The 14-month study incorporated a range of research strategies including video taping and stimulated recall interviews. The study concluded that it is in the classrooms of teachers who view mathematics topics as connected to each other, and who encourage their pupils to negotiate mathematical meanings with their peers where pupils engaged consistently in conceptual mathematical thinking. Ths study noted that under favourable circumstances mathematical thinking skills that deal with generalisation and abstraction can be fostered in pupils as young as five years of age, suggesting that thinking mathematically in an advanced way is not only characteristic of later school years or university. The article underwent peer review by three anonymous referees. This is a dual-authored paper with a 50% contribution from each researcher.