Mamta Naik

PGCE Primary Programme Lead

My profile

Biography

I worked for many years in a range of primary schools as a class teacher as well as subject co-ordinator. Following this, I was involved in a DCSF funded consultant role within Manchester Local Education Authority; supporting schools to raise the achievement of black heritage pupils with a strong focus on achievement within mathematics. I went on to carry out a consultant’s role focusing on school improvement and undertook the role of strategic lead for mathematics whilst also carrying out an interim joint primary national strategy lead role for Manchester LA. When funding for this post ceased, I moved into higher education here at Manchester Met University. I have worked as a senior lecturer in primary mathematics education here since joining in September 2010. I have undertaken several different roles in my time at the university, including partnership co-ordinator, which included leading both the final year undergraduate and first postgraduate school-based teaching placements. I currently lead the ‘Primary Education with Mathematics’ programme, which provides a specialist pathway to those students who wish to undertake a generalist primary teaching degree, but who also want to engage in a deeper exploration of and a speciailst understanding of teaching mathematics .

I like to encourage students I work with, to try and get some ‘me’ time in the middle of doing a very busy and challenging course though I am aware that is not at all easy! I do this through leading by example. Though I have a very busy job and study commitments, which could easily take up all my waking hours, I make sure to put time in to pursuing other interests to maintain my physical and mental well-being. I have been a runner for 22 years and have taken part in a variety of races, including half marathons, a marathon and trail races in the Lake District (my favourite place in the whole world). Walking is another interest of mine (and a lot easier than running – you actually get to see some of the scenery!) I also do yoga (to offset the running). I love going to the theatre, particularly the Bolton Octagon, which gave me my first experience of live theatre, a pivotal part of my educational journey. I am finding that in current times of living through a pandemic, these activities are all vital to my capacity to maintain positive well-being. I cannot wait for the the newly built Octagon Theatre to open its doors.

Membership of professional associations

Member of British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics (BSRLM)

Get in touch

0161 247 2090
4.12 Brooks Building

Teaching

Why do I teach?

There is something very special about working with children, to move them from not knowing to suddenly making a connection, or to move them from knowing something to deepening their understanding of it even further. I find it is quite similar working with our student teachers. I genuinely feel privileged and honoured to work with future teachers on our BA (Hons) Primary Education and Primary Education with Mathematics degrees as well as our Postgraduate Certificate in Education. I really enjoy working with both our undergraduate and postgraduate students. I love watching the undergraduates blossom in their knowledge, understanding of and confidence in their teaching during their three years with us. I feel very proud of them on graduation day and I am always the one who has the hankie hidden in her gown. I love the knowledge and life experience that our postgraduates bring to the course and their steely determination and motivation to succeed on a very demanding course. I am always amazed and impressed by what they achieve in one year of study with us.

How I’ll teach you

Though you will be familiar with aspects of mathematics teaching such as counting and the number line, have you ever wondered why we use a strategy such as the number line to calculate or what is involved when children learn to count? In seminars, we take what happens in the classroom and aim to look at the underlying theoretical principles which influence the way many key mathematical concepts are taught.

During my teaching seminars, there is a lot of talk and practical hands-on tasks, often using the kind of mathematical equipment you might find in school. Sometimes there will be movement around the room and of course, some listening. These activities involve everyone in the room; I encourage you to share your experiences as well as sharing my teaching experiences with you. It is important that we develop a
professional dialogue, as that is what you will engage in when in school on your training placements and when you start your first teaching role.

During the three years of the undergraduate programme or during the year of the postgraduate programme, we explore all the big ideas of mathematics so that you can understand their relevance to the curriculum and
can deepen your understanding and knowledge of how to teach them to young children aged 3 – 11. Sessions are designed to be interactive, thought-provoking, sometimes challenging (in a supportive environment) and often eye-opening. Lots of ‘aaahhh’ moments to be had! Even if you are a bit frightened of mathematics now, I am hopeful that you will develop your confidence in your own subject knowledge and in how to teach this truly beautiful and creative discipline.Within the specialist primary education with mathematics degree programme, we also have space to reflect upon mathematics as a discipline and upon the teaching of it, in a more philosophical way. 

Research outputs

Research for my MSc STEM Learning degree focused on the intellectual and personal resources that primary education students draw on, when working on mathematics and how they relate these to their own teaching of mathematics. The findings of this small-scale research were shared at BSRLM Conference, February 2016 in Manchester and can be found in the linked conference proceedings.

Currently, I am moving towards completion of my journey on my doctorate. Here, I continue to work with  student teachers as their development as future teachers of primary mathematics fascinates me. The focus of my study is on working with my students to re-imagine the teaching of mathematics as one which moves away from fixed notions of what mathematics is and how it is taught, to one where possibilities for mathematics learning are opened up to newness and inventiveness. I have adopted a new materialist theoretical framework for my study, which has enabled me to go beyond the here and now in my thinking. It has also enabled me to think very differently about ‘methodology’ and its place in research.

With a suspension to studies arising from the current global situation, the completion date for my doctorate is now delayed. I hope to complete by the end of Summer 2022.