Page 40 - SEN106 SEN Magazine May-June 2020

I f you have pupils with SEN and disabilities who suffer from maths anxiety, they are far from alone. Maths anxiety affects thousands of people across the nation and is widely acknowledged as a barrier to engagement and progress in maths, as well as other areas of education, employment and life. The good news is that maths anxiety can be tackled. By developing a widespread understanding of maths anxiety, schools can start to take steps to build the confidence of pupils with SEN and help them progress in the classroom and beyond. What is maths anxiety? Leading academic Sue Johnston-Wilder describes maths anxiety as “a negative emotional reaction to mathematics that acts as an ‘emotional handbrake’ and holds up progress in maths.”¹ It’s something that can affect all individuals at all ages and stages of learning. It’s thought that one in ten 8 to 13-year- olds in Britain suffer from maths anxiety,² with recent studies reporting that children as young as four can feel anxious about maths.³ Maths anxiety can manifest in many ways, from a feeling of mild tension through to experiencing a strong and deep- rooted fear of maths. For pupils with SEN, it may be one of a number of factors affecting how they learn in maths. The causes of maths anxiety are likely to be complex in the case of pupils with SEN; however, research has shown common causation factors which seem to feature irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity or additional needs. When an individual feels in danger of failing, being socially excluded or embarrassed when working on a maths-related task, maths anxiety can occur as part of a fight or flight response. Many pupils have highlighted experiencing maths anxiety when they’ve found the work too difficult, feel in competition with peers, sensed gender bias, experienced insensitivity from teachers, or lacked remediation. 4 It’s thought that one in ten eight to 13-year-olds in Britain suffer from maths anxiety Alexandra Riley looks at how to build pupils’ confidence and engagement with maths Tackling maths anxiety SEN 106 senmagazine.co.uk 40 Numeracy