Concreteness Fading: Bridging Procedural and Conceptual Understanding

Episode 217: This week on Thinking Deeply about Primary Education, John Jackson and Emma Lindley-Thompson from Ambition Institute return to explore the next extract from their expert edit—this time, focusing on concreteness fading and its role in mathematics teaching.We discuss: The relationship between procedural knowledge and conceptual understanding and how this influences mathematics instruction. The challenge of premature reliance on abstract symbols and how teachers can strike the right balance between concrete and abstract representations. The debate over concrete representations—do they make abstract ideas clearer, or do they hinder transfer to new contexts? Key implications for teacher professional development and how educators can implement concreteness fading effectively in the classroom.Whether you’re a maths specialist, a primary educator, or a leader supporting professional development, this episode provides valuable research-backed insights to enhance mathematical understanding in your teaching.If you enjoy this episode, please support us by subscribing to our YouTube channel, leaving a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or making a donation via www.ko-fi.com/tdape. Join the conversation on our Discord server!Click here for tickets to TDaPE Manchester. 30 wonderful sessions about everything primary education.