How I Wish I'd Taught Maths: Lessons learned from research, conversations with experts, and 12 years of mistakes

In recent years, there has been a growing trend in mathematics education, away from direct instruction, toward allowing students to "discover" the math through exploring relationships or solving problems by themselves or in small groups - often with disastrous results for many students. In _How I Wish I'd Taught Maths_, British educator Barton examines a wide range of neuroscience research, looking at how students actually learn math and why the discovery approach is not effective when students are learning something new. He then explains how to apply these research findings in the classroom. His approach offers the potential to reorient mathematics education in the best possible way, with great benefits for many students. I've been a secondary math teacher for many years, and I believe this book is one of the most valuable and important contributions that has been made to mathematics education in recent decades.

The book is pure genius. It is perfecly applicable for any field, though predictably it is truly great for math. Every point is proven, every aspect is covered. I will definitely have to reread it, because there is so much inside, that it’s impossible to consume it during the first read.

Extremely important and valuable experience for math teachers, but with interest for other teachers as well as people interested in education. It's much more than a simple debunking of romantic and outdated theories on education. it's a practical explanation about the importance of the curriculum, structured teaching and knowledge. Instead of talking about "XXI century competences" and similar empty buzzwords, it helps all of us to do good teaching!

One of the best and most practical books on teaching that I have ever read. I have tried some of the ideas and it has made a big difference and my students’ level of engagement and understanding.

A very clear and relevant book. What does the most compelling research look like thoughtfully applied to math classes. Must-read for math teachers; deeply helpful for teachers of any subject with some experience or interest in math to best appreciate the wonderful examples.

This is an amazing book with great insight into teaching math. If is written very succinctly and with great knowledge. I recommend it to any math teacher

So much good examples of how to apply evidence based teaching techniques in the classroom. If your a math teacher get this book.

This is a very deep dive into the meta-cognition of teaching mathematical problem solving. Every math teacher ought to read this book... and perhaps every high school math student as well.

Good read for teachers of maths. Lots of reassurance that things I’ve noted and things I’m doing match someone else’s ideas. Also interesting as a primary teacher to gain insight into aspects of secondary teaching. Some things I see slightly differently but other things that have really made me think. Like the way the book is set out, making it easy to read. And all the links to research and references so I can read further. I had to read it with a notebook beside me to jot down all the things I wanted to return to/look further into/think about. Def recommend to anyone involved in mathscteachung and learning.

Coming to the end of my ITT year and I can honestly say of the 30+ books on mathematics and pedagogy I've read, HIWITM alone would have been worth the £9k in uni fees. Cannot recommend this book enough for ITTs. Fast tracked me through a bunch of bad practices which felt instinctive to a novice teacher. (Plus it is packed with further reading for those sweet sweet citations!)

Having taught and led maths for 9 years in secondary & 7 years in primary, I would highly recommend this book, without reservation, to all teachers across the full age range. The prolific talent behind Mr Barton Maths Podcast and Diagnostic talent, Craig Barton has interviewed key people in the field of education and mathematics, conducting over 100 hours of interviews, producing over 1000 powerpoint slides and reading well over 200 books and research papers.'How I wish I taught maths' is an insightful, extraordinary, user-friendly book. Each chapter has highly relevant sub-headings where Craig describes what he used to think, a list of his wide-ranging sources of inspiration including podcast interviews and research papers to allow further reading, his take-aways - the key golden nuggets that he gained from his research and what he does now.If you are reflective in your practice, keen to understand the very best education research has to offer or looking to inspire a department, this is the book for you.

A flippin' awesome piece of work!Craig has filtered and distilled hundreds of research papers, articles, books and conversations into straightforward, practical advice for the classroom teacher.Each sub topic includes a "what I used to think" section, a summary of research evidence, Craig's reflection and a "what I do now". As a secondary maths teacher I could identify with many of the misguided approaches outlined in the book. I made many of the same mistakes. Crucially, I now know why they didn't work and what I can do about it.Maths education in the UK is lucky to have you, Craig. Keep up the great work.

This book most definitely changed how I thought about teaching secondary school mathematics. Perhaps that's not surprising for a current trainee teacher (we're still learning, and apparently that never changes!) but I kinda expected the university to be doing that job and not a paperback reference book. I managed to read this entire 450-page book in about four or five seatings, because I found it to be written in such a light and accessible style, filled with humourous anecdotes and observations from Craig's years of teaching. I honestly did not expect to be this engaged and entertained by a book about evidence-based teaching.What I absolutely love about this book is how it covers a broad range of topics specifically related to maths teaching, each of which I felt with well-reasoned and well-researched arguments that persuaded me to try some of Craig's ideas in my practice. This book also succeeded in explaining to me why Cognitive Load Theory is important to consider when teaching, something my university told me was extremely important yet failed to convince me underneath all the science-y jargon, before then dropping the topic altogether after the first week of the course. So thank you Craig for sharing all your hard work for a measly £20 (or even less!) and pointing me towards the research, resources and ideas that I should be paying close attention to as I start my career.