The Myth of the maths gene

While some children might appear to be born mathematicians, it’s not necessarily a god-given talent; we all have the potential to develop a head for figures, says Wendy Jones...

Is it true that some children are born with a talent for mathematics and some simply are not? And what do you do if too many of the latter group seem to be in your class? Maths is always going to put up barriers for them. They just don’t have the ‘maths gene’. Being ‘no good at maths’ is reckoned by many to be a genetic handicap that you are stuck with – and this might apply not just to the children you teach, but to your colleagues or you yourself. If you haven’t got the aptitude, you’re almost certain not to have the interest, so why beat yourself up? Accept the inevitable. If deep down that is your view, please think again. There is no such thing as a gene for maths.

Even if we use the term metaphorically, there is a growing view among educationalists and psychologists that being good at maths is more about environment and attitude than innate ability. In other words, all children have the potential – with good teaching and encouragement – to learn maths. None should be written off as being naturally no good at it. Jo Boaler in her book The Elephant in the Classroomtalks about a ‘can or can’t do’ maths culture within schools. Children are too often labelled as ‘low ability’ early in their school careers – with predictable and damaging results. Boaler says this puts us out of step with the rest of the world and particularly with high-achieving countries like Finland and Japan where it is accepted that everyone can do maths.

If children are not very ‘mathematical’, perhaps they have learnt to be so. That may result from their experience at school and from the attitudes they bring from home. How many times have you heard parents say: “I’m hopeless at maths” or – to their child: “Don’t worry, maths was never my strong subject either”? The implication is that it’s ok to fail at maths, and if your parents haven’t passed on the ‘maths gene’, you don’t stand a chance. This is not just nonsense, but harmful nonsense. Many of the millions of UK adults with poor numeracy started to lose interest while they were still at primary school and no doubt some were told they did not have the maths gene. At National Numeracy we believe that a big factor in poor performance is negative attitudes. Later this year we will introduce the National Numeracy Challenge to show everyone that they can improve their maths.

But back to children. There is a great deal that parents can do – pointing out the maths in everyday life and above all never saying they’re rubbish at it. It is well worth recommending parents to look at Rob Eastaway and Mike Askew’s Maths for Mums and Dads.

There are also practical ways of changing the classroom experience so that children do succeed. Jo Boaler advocates encouraging children to talk, ask questions and work through problems together, rather than passively listening and copying. There are lots of useful insights in her book.

Of course teachers need confidence to feel comfortable with this approach – and that may present problems. Lynn Churchman, a fellow trustee of mine at National Numeracy and chair of the National Association of Mathematics Advisers, says: “Primary teachers may have had a poor experience of maths themselves, especially at secondary school, and they carry those feelings with them into their teaching. The last thing they want is for their own lack of confidence to limit their children’s performance, so they leave it to textbooks and worksheets. But it’s the discussion, interaction and digging down into problems that helps develop children’s maths understanding, and that’s what’s missing.”

She suggests that teachers can find ideas and inspiration from sites such as nrich.maths.org – and they need to collaborate with each other. She says: “In every primary school, there will be at least some teachers who’re quite confident in maths and SLTs can put together strong teams to support less confident teachers.” So forget about the ‘maths gene’. It’s a myth. All children have the potential to develop mathematical sense (what some call ‘mathematical habits of mind’) as well as maths skills. But they need support to do this – in the classroom and beyond.