The past is a foreign country : reflections of a head of department

Abstract

In October 1996 I was appointed Head of Department (Mathematics). Before that time I taught for twelve years in a primary school, then mathematics for five years at secondary level and seven years at the post-secondary level. I must say that the time spent teaching at primary level are amongst the most I cherish. At no time in my career have I felt so much in control of teaching and learning. I had my own class, I was in contact with the pupils almost all the time, I could organise activities without the constriction of time frames imposed by teaching periods that characterise post-primary education and I could organise displays of children’s work on the walls of the classroom. On reflection I think my approach to teaching mathematics was oriented too much towards drill-and-practice and a transmission mode pedagogy. With hindsight I would have liked to include more constructivist pedagogies. But as a Maltese proverb states: Wara kulħadd għaref (Everyone is wise with hindsight).