“It was all led by them”: opening up opportunities for making mathematics through a children’s exhibition

The Mathematics in the Making (MiMa) project drew on Pestalozzi's model of learning - from hand to heart to head - and that of Bruner in which understanding develops from the enactive to the iconic and thence to the symbolic. It also recognised that learning is fundamentally social and that worthwhile learning is democratic. The MiMa partners produced practical activities for 8 to 10 year olds. Participating teachers experienced the activities themselves before running ‘laboratories’ with their children. Throughout, the teachers and children knew that they were preparing their objects and activities for public exhibition. We describe the exhibition in Sheffield and draw on our own reflections and those of participating teachers to argue that MiMa gave the children an opportunity to exercise responsibility and autonomy with respect to their own mathematics and that this led to many, particularly those previously low attaining, becoming successful and more confident learners.