Today is an historic day. Not in any global sense, but in the far smaller world of Mathematics education. I’m on the train to London as I write, heading for the inaugural meeting of AMiE, the Association for Mathematics in Education.
When I first started teaching, there were so many different teaching unions that I could not decide which to join, so for years, I did not join any. As a keen maths teacher, however, I joined lots of associations, each with different journals, resources, conferences, and yes, subscriptions.
I soon realised that within each organisation, there was always a core of folk whose love for their association sometimes spilled over into suspicion of, or even hostility towards, the ‘others’. I found this really sad – NOBODY can claim a monopoly on good ideas, after all.
Every 4 years, they would have a combined conference, known as BCME, the ‘British Congress of Maths Education’. I always loved these conferences the most – they had a wider variety of sessions, and a richer opportunity to discuss and learn from those with different views and opinions, as folks from various groups came together over meals, coffee breaks, etc.
So when the chance came to discuss joining up our groups, I was all for it. Of course, I also appreciate that people were understandably worried about losing the ‘unique flavour’ of their particular member organisation, and this should not be trivialised- it will be a real challenge for AMiE to make everyone feel valued and listened to moving forward. But this is not an insurmountable problem; as long as we keep in mind that, in the end, what really matters is the education of the young people in our care.
Will I miss NAMA? MA? ATM? Absolutely! But knowing many of the people involved in setting up AMiE, I am confident that today will be a big success, not only as a launch event, but as a springboard to all of us working together. And that can only be a good thing.