Six Steps for Effective Maths Mentoring

Here are six mentoring tips to help your student feel more engaged and confident about their maths.

by Ed Smith

But first, let’s add some context: your student hates maths at school. Let’s call her Sophie. Sophie always leaves her lessons feeling humiliated, depressed and mildly concussed.

Your objective today is to teach Sophie fractions. As Sophie’s Oppidan mentor, you’re her part-teacher and part-coach. But your added role as mentor goes deeper: you’re going to encourage Sophie to unstitch the negative stories she tells herself about her ability by following these six simple steps:

01. ‘I failed a maths test once when I was your age’

This is about admiration leading to elevation. Sophie really looks up to you, so admitting that you also make mistakes is great mentorship. Everyone makes mistakes, Sophie! It’s how we learn from them that counts.

02. ‘How do you want to feel?’

This is about prioritising process over outcome; focusing on the now and not worrying about future exams. So, ask Sophie how she wants to feel right now in this session. When Sophie commits to feeling ‘happy’, ‘joyful’ or ‘focused’ for the next 60 minutes, this quickly becomes self-fulfilling.

03. ‘You choose!’

Greater autonomy leads to greater engagement. Give Sophie ownership over the order in which you approach tasks. This gives Sophie an element of control and means she buys into the process. She’s in the driving seat and she controls the speed and structure of the session.

04. ‘There are no mistakes - only opportunities to learn’

This is about fostering a growth mindset. Because Sophie’s lost confidence, she’s lost the courage to take risks and make mistakes. Explain to Sophie that mistakes in these sessions will be expected, necessary and celebrated because they’re essential to progress.

05. ‘I can’t do it…YET’

This simple reframing device encourages Sophie that growth is possible. The story that Sophie tells herself about her maths is fixed and negative. So when Sophie says she ‘can’t do fractions’, you reply ‘you can’t do fractions yet, Sophie’.

06. ‘The evidence suggests you’re better than you think!’

This is based on the premise that success breeds motivation. Near the end of the session, set Sophie a mini-test that’s well within her capability. A good mark in a test is a great source of encouragement and motivation to work harder, and something to build on.

Despite normally hating maths, Sophie’s actually had fun today. She’s felt in control, she’s felt happy and focused, and she’s nailed her test! Same time next week, Sophie?