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​This remarkable achievement follows growing engagement with the Maths Through Stories initiative in the Maldives. In June 2025, Dr. Trakulphadetkrai delivered a UKRI Research England-funded Maths Through Stories national implementation consultation workshop in partnership with the Maldives National University and Maldives Ministry of Education, bringing together teachers, teacher educators, curriculum specialists, and policymakers from across the country. Since then, participation from Maldivian schools in the YMSA competition has increased dramatically, culminating in this historic international success.
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In particular, the Ministry stated that:
 
“Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai, founder of the MathsThroughStories.org initiative, played a pivotal role in strengthening teacher capacity through professional development and technical training programmes. This historic achievement demonstrates how strong institutional collaboration and sustained support can unlock and enhance the talents and capabilities of our students. The successful partnership between the Ministry and higher education institutions has shown that the quality of education in the Maldives is capable of not only meeting international standards but also excelling beyond them."
 
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​Details of the 2027 YMSA competition can now be found here.
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​​Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Reading and founder of MathsThroughStories.org), led a national implementation consultation workshop on his research-based Maths Through Stories approach in Thailand on 19 May 2026 at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. 

Co-hosted by Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Education, the workshop brought together 70 key Thai educational stakeholders, including early years, primary and secondary school teachers, teacher educators representing more than 10 teacher training university faculties, as well as curriculum developers and policymakers from several agencies under the Thailand Ministry of Education. These included the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST), which is responsible for developing Thailand’s mathematics curriculum, and the Equitable Education Fund (EEF), which works to reduce educational inequality and improve access to quality education for disadvantaged learners across the country, as well as Bangkok Primary Education Service Area Office, which is responsible for overseeing, administering, and managing public primary education and schools across the capital region. The event was also livestreamed, enabling more than 400 additional stakeholders from across Thailand to participate and follow the discussions in real time.
 
The workshop examined how Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s research-informed ‘Maths Through Stories’ approach might be adopted more widely across schools in Thailand to strengthen mathematics teaching and support learning experiences that are more meaningful, engaging, and inclusive for students. The approach offers an innovative and low-cost way for students to deepen their mathematical understanding through the creation of short mathematical story picture books. Throughout the workshop, participants engaged in practical activities and collaborative discussions focused on possible implementation strategies, alongside factors that could either support or hinder successful implementation in schools.
 
​To help demonstrate alignment between Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s 'Maths Through Stories' approach and the educational priorities and policy agendas of international organisations, the workshop also featured virtual contribution from Dr. Úna McCarthy-Fakhry (UNESCO Headquarters, Paris) as well as Dr. Cassie Hague and Emma Linsenmayer (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] Headquarters, Paris).
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Following the workshop, Dr. Trakulphadetkrai was invited to meet with Dr. Kessara Amornvuthivorn (Director of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Center for STEM Education [SEAMEO STEM-ED]) at her office in Bangkok to discuss the alignment between the Maths Through Approach approach and the work of her Center. 

Dr. Trakulphadetkrai wishes to extend his heartfelt thanks to the partner organisations that helped host the workshop (particularly Dr. Yotsawee Saifah [the Dean of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Education] and Dr. Waris Wongpipit [Assistant Dean]), as well as to the contributors from OECD and UNESCO, and to all participants whose enthusiasm and contributions played an important role in the success of the Thailand workshop. He also looks forward to continuing to support teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers in Thailand as they explore ways of adapting and implementing the Maths Through Stories approach within their own educational settings and professional contexts.
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Funded by Research England’s Policy Support Fund, this Thailand event formed part of Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s wider series of international workshops, designed to engage practitioners and policymakers in different parts of the world in exploring, adapting, and implementing his Maths Through Stories approach. The series follows his highly successful research-practice-policy workshops in the Maldives last year and in Malta earlier this year.

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Highlights from the Opening and Closing Remarks

Video of the 'Maths Through Stories' national implementation consultation workshop in Bangkok, Thailand

​Opening remarks by Dr. Kessara Amornvuthivorn (Director of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Center for STEM Education [SEAMEO STEM-ED]).

​English translation of the remarks can be found here.

Closing remarks by Dr. Yotsawee Saifah (Dean of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Education).

​English translation of the remarks can be found here.
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Click on the photos to enlarge them and to read captions

​Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Reading and founder of MathsThroughStories.org), led a national implementation consultation workshop on his research-based Maths Through Stories approach in Malta on 17 April 2026 at Malta’s STEM & VET Curriculum Hub.

Co-hosted by the Maltese Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation's Directorate for STEM & VET Programmes and the University of Malta, the workshop brought together over 60 key educational stakeholders from across Malta, including early years, primary and secondary school teachers, teacher educators, curriculum developers, and policymakers.
 
The workshop explored how Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s ‘Maths Through Stories’ approach could be introduced across schools throughout Malta to help enrich the effectiveness of mathematics teaching and make learning even more meaningful, engaging, and inclusive for all students. The approach is an innovative, research-based, low-cost strategy in which students develop their mathematical understanding by creating short mathematical story picture books. Attendees took part in hands-on activities and group discussions, including identifying ways to implement the approach, as well as key enablers of and barriers to its implementation.
 
​To help demonstrate alignment between Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s 'Maths Through Stories' approach and the educational priorities and policy agendas of international organisations, the workshop also featured in-person contribution from Emma Linsenmayer (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] Headquarters, Paris), alongside virtual contributions from Dr. Cassie Hague (OECD Headquarters, Paris) and Dr. Úna McCarthy-Fakhry (UNESCO Headquarters, Paris).
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Both Dr. Trakulphadetkrai and Ms. Linsenmayer (OECD) also had a chance to visit The Archbishop’s Minor Seminary (a local school serving both primary and secondary students) to observe how mathematics is taught and learned across different age phases in Malta. They also met with the leadership team of Malta’s Directorate for STEM and VET Programmes to learn more about its work, priorities and potential collaboration. 
 
Dr. Trakulphadetkrai would like to express his sincere gratitude to the hosting partner organisations (especially Prof. Marie Therese Farrugia​ at the University of Malta and Melanie Casha Sammut at the Directorate for STEM and VET Programmes) as well as the OECD and UNESCO contributors and all the attendees whose support and engagement helped make the Malta workshop a great success. He looks forward to providing ongoing post-workshop support to teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers in Malta as they begin to implement and adapt the Maths Through Stories approach within their respective roles and contexts. 
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Funded by Research England’s Policy Support Fund, this Malta event formed part of Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s wider series of international workshops, designed to engage practitioners and policymakers in different parts of the world in exploring, adapting, and implementing his Maths Through Stories approach. The series follows his highly successful research-practice-policy workshop in the Maldives last year, and precedes an upcoming workshop in Thailand next month.

Click on the photos to enlarge them and to read captions

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Anthony Bloome (Executive Director and Founder of the mEducation Alliance) remarked:

“For the 2025 Math Power! prize, we were looking for innovative approaches to help learners understand abstract mathematical concepts. While the traditional definition of manipulatives includes physical objects (e.g, counters), we were quite intrigued by the Maths Through Stories initiative demonstrating that mathematical story picture books can function as teacher-usable manipulatives with students authoring their own math-themed books. We are also delighted that Math Through Stories, represented by Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai, also contributes to our Math Power! Community of Practice along with other global math champions."
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Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Reading and Founder of MathsThroughStories.org) commented:

“I’m deeply honoured by this recognition. Receiving the Math Power! Prize provides strong external validation of the initiative’s impact and scalability, especially coming from judges who are experienced professionals working on the ground to improve educational quality in the Global South. It reinforces our belief that empowering students to create their own mathematical story picture books – a research-based low-to-no-cost pedagogical approach – can play a meaningful role in strengthening foundational mathematics learning internationally, particularly in contexts where resources are limited and equitable access to high-quality teaching remains a challenge.”
 

The mEducation Alliance is a global non-profit that convenes educators, researchers, policymakers, funders, and practitioners to advance evidence-informed improvements in education systems, with a strong focus on strengthening learning ecosystems in low- and middle-income countries. Its global network includes organisations, such as the World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, USAID, the British Council, and the Asian Development Bank – illustrating the Alliance’s role as a convening platform at the intersection of policy, practice, and evidence in global education. 
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Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Reading and founder of MathsThroughStories.org), led a national implementation consultation workshop on his research-based Maths Through Stories approach in the Maldives on 17 June 2025.

Kindly hosted by the Maldives National University (MNU) and funded by Research England’s Policy Support Fund, the workshop brought together over 50 key educational stakeholders from across the Maldives, including primary and secondary school teachers, teacher educators, curriculum developers, and policy makers - among them two Deputy Ministers of Education (Dr. Fathimath Nishan and Aminath Nazima) as well as a representative of UNICEF Maldives. 

The workshop focused on how the ‘Maths Through Stories’ approach – Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s research-based, low-cost pedagogy – can be implemented in schools across the Maldives to make mathematics teaching more effective, contextual, engaging, and accessible for all learners. Participants engaged in interactive activities, collaborative discussions, and action planning designed to outline ways of implementing the approach by the different stakeholder types, as well as exploring some of the key enablers for and barriers to the national implementation.

Dr. Trakulphadetkrai's workshop co-facilitators - Dr. Úna McCarthy-Fakhry (UNESCO Headquarters, Paris) and Dr. Cassie Hague (OECD Headquarters, Paris) - contributed international perspectives and highlighted how the Maths Through Stories approach aligns with their own work on promoting inclusive STEM pedagogies and promoting creative thinking in education respectively. Dr. Trakulphadetkrai had previously introduced both Dr. McCarthy-Fakhry and Dr. Hague to his Maths Through Stories approach while he was based at UNESCO and the OECD as part of his UKRI Policy / What Works Fellowship.

Participating stakeholders also had the opportunity to hear directly from Aminath Nishana, a classroom teacher at Sharafuddin School - the largest school outside the capital city - who shared her school’s experiences in participating in Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s Young Mathematical Story Authors (YMSA) competition, the world’s first international mathematical story writing competition. Her insights illustrated the positive impact that creative, story-based approaches can have on student engagement and mathematical understanding. Examples of mathematical story picture books created by students from Sharafuddin School for the YMSA competition were also shared during the workshop, offering stakeholders a tangible insight into the creativity and depth of understanding fostered by this approach. Examples include: 'How to Win an Argument Using a Scatter Diagram' by Jeem Naseer (13 years old), 'The Fractions of Ramadan' by Alim Zaneef (10 years old), and 'The Multiplication Toddy Men' by Fathimath Sasha (8 years old).

The National Implementation - Collaborative Action Plan (NI-CAP) - developed during the event in collaboration with all stakeholders - was shared with the Ministry of Education to demonstrate a list of actionable steps that can be taken to implement the Maths Through Stories approach nationally, including the integration of the approach as part of the country's pre-service and in-service teacher education curriculum (through collaboration with the NIE and teacher training institutions, such as the Maldives National University and Villa College) as well as the establishment of a pilot national network of Maths Through Stories Schools, among other key recommendations.
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​Following the workshop, Dr. Trakulphadetkrai and his UNESCO and OECD colleagues had the opportunity to present emerging recommendations from the event to Dr. Ahmed Mohamed (Minister of State for Education) at the Maldives’ Ministry of Education. They also visited several key stakeholders, including the leadership teams of Jamaluddin School (a local primary and secondary school), Villa College's Faculty of Educational Studies (one of the Maldives' largest pre-service teacher training institutions), and the Ministry's National Institute of Education (the country’s curriculum development and in-service teacher training agency). These meetings provided valuable opportunities to discuss next steps, strengthen partnerships, and ensure broad-based support for scaling the Maths Through Stories approach across the Maldives.

The idea for this workshop first emerged from a chance encounter between Dr. Trakulphadetkrai and Dr. Maryam Mariya (then Minister of Higher Education for the Maldives) at an international education summit co-organised by UNESCO, the OECD and the GIoCT in Paris in late 2024. Their initial conversation sparked the collaborative vision that led to this event.

Videos of the workshop and stakeholders’ reactions to the workshop, along with photos from the event and related visits, can be found below.
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The workshop brought together over 50 key educational stakeholders from across the Maldives, including primary and secondary school teachers, teacher educators, curriculum developers, and policy makers - among them two Deputy Ministers of Education (Dr. Fathimath Nishan and Aminath Nazima) as well as a representative of UNICEF Maldives.
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Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Reading and founder of MathsThroughStories.org) with ​His Excellency Nick Low ​(The British High Commissioner to the Republic of Maldives) and Dr. Aishath Shehenaz Adam (Vice Chancellor of Maldives National University who kindly hosted the workshop).
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Dr. Trakulphadetkrai and his workshop co-facilitators from the UNESCO and OECD headquarters (Paris) with the leadership team of Maldives National University's Faculty of Education. 
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Dr. Trakulphadetkrai and his workshop co-facilitators from the UNESCO and OECD headquarters (Paris) with the leadership team of Villa College's Faculty of Educational Studies.
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His Excellency Nick Low ​(The British High Commissioner to the Republic of Maldives) giving an opening remark.
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Dr. Trakulphadetkrai welcoming distinguished guests and various stakeholders to the workshop, and introduced them to his concept of students creating their own short mathematical story picture books as an innovative low-cost pedagogical approach. 
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​Dr. Úna McCarthy-Fakhry (UNESCO Headquarters, Paris) contributed international perspectives and highlighted how the Maths Through Stories approach aligns with her own work on promoting inclusive STEM pedagogies.
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Dr. Cassie Hague (OECD Headquarters, Paris) contributed international perspectives and highlighted how the Maths Through Stories approach aligns with her own work on promoting creative thinking in education.
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Aminath Nishana, a teacher from Sharafuddin School (the largest school outside Maldives' capital city), sharing her school’s experiences in participating in Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s Young Mathematical Story Authors (YMSA) competition, the world’s first international mathematical story writing competition.
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Dr. Trakulphadetkrai supporting various stakeholders in creating their own short mathematical story picture books. 
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Using Dr. Trakulphadetkrai's mathematical storytelling template, stakeholders working together to create short mathematical story picture books as part of the workshop activities.
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Stakeholders presenting their collaboratively created mathematical story picture books to their peers.
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Dr. McCarthy-Fakhry and Dr. Hague co-facilitating a policy discussion with various stakeholders on how the Maths Through Stories approach could be implemented nationally. 
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Classroom teachers, teacher educators, curriculum develops and policy makers discussing some of the key enablers for and barriers to the national implementation of Dr. Trakulphadetkrai's Maths Through Stories approach. 
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Dr. Trakulphadetkrai and his UNESCO and OECD colleagues presenting emerging recommendations from the workshop on how the Maths Through Stories approach could be implemented nationally to Dr. Ahmed Mohamed (Minister of State for Education) at the Maldives’ Ministry of Education.
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Dr. Trakulphadetkrai and his UNESCO and OECD colleagues visiting various stakeholders following the Maths Through Stories workshop, including here the leadership team of the Maldivian Ministry of Education's National Institute of Education (NIE) which is in charge of curriculum development, school inspection and in-service teacher training.

​On this photo are: Dr. Fathimath Nishan (Deputy Minister of Education), Soodha (NIE's Acting Director General), Shiyama Aboobakur (Head of Foundation Stage), as well as Aishath Shiunee and Khadeeja Afsharee (Senior Curriculum Development Analysts).
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Dr. Trakulphadetkrai and his UNESCO and OECD colleagues visiting various stakeholders following the Maths Through Stories workshop, including here the leadership team of Villa College's Faculty of Educational Studies - one of the major pre-service teacher training institutions in the Maldives. 

On this photo are: Abdul Sattar Gasim (Dean of Villa College's Faculty of Educational Studies [FES]), Fathimath Saeed (FES Associate Dean), Mariyam Nihaadh (Senior Lecturer, FES), Fathimath Samaahath (Lecturer, FES) and Fathimath Shifaza (Director, Policy and International Relations).
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Dr. Trakulphadetkrai and his UNESCO and OECD colleagues visiting various stakeholders following the Maths Through Stories workshop, including here the leadership team of Jamaluddin School, a local primary and secondary school. They also were given opportunities to observe a primary Maths lesson and a secondary Maths lesson being taught. 

On this photo are: Aishath Sheetha (Principal) and Aminath Latheef (Leading Teacher Maths Secondary) among other members of the school's leadership team.

​Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Reading) secures another large grant - this time from the Leverhulme Trust - to continue expanding his Maths Through Stories body of research.
 
Specifically, his proposed 30-month study (July 2025 - December 2027) - titled 'Transforming Secondary Mathematics Learning through Storytelling' - will measure the effectiveness of an innovative low-cost mathematics teaching strategy whereby secondary school students in England create short mathematical story picture books within their regular Maths lessons. Its impact will be assessed on its ability to reduce the level of students’ mathematics anxiety, and fostering their self-efficacy in and attitudes towards mathematics learning as well as improving their mathematics attainment. In doing so, the project will bring new understanding of the role of storytelling in fostering mathematical understanding and positivity within an adolescent population whose mathematical development is currently under-explored.
 
The study aims to collect data from around 1,000 students across the Southeast of England, with Dr. Trakulphadetkrai having already secured official support from five local authorities (Surrey, Reading, Slough, Wokingham and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead). 

Examples of short mathematical story picture books created by secondary school students (sent to Dr. Trakulphadetkrai as part of their submission for his Young Mathematical Story Authors competition) can be found here: Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, Example 4, Example 5 and Example 6. 
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This proposed project will build on Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s University of Reading Research Fellowship project (2019-2021) where he designed a similar project but with a focus on collecting data from around 1,000+ upper primary school children. 

As the study’s Principal Investigator, Dr. Trakulphadetkrai will be supported by two co-investigators, namely Dr. Ros McLellan (University Associate Professor of Pedagogical Innovation, University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Education) and Dr. Flávia H. Santos (Lecturer in Cognitive Developmental Psychology, University College London). 

Commenting on his latest large grant success, Dr. Trakulphadetkrai said: 

"I am grateful to the Leverhulme Trust for granting our research team this exceptional opportunity to build upon my previous work with primary school children. The grant will now allow us to investigate the extent to which my low-cost, innovative pedagogical approach where students create their own short mathematical story picture books can be effectively adapted for secondary school students. Our goal is not only to explore strategies for improving the effectiveness of mathematics learning but also to make it a more enjoyable and accessible experience, particularly for older students with diverse levels of confidence in the subject."

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​This application is in respose to the APEX (Academies Partnership in supporting Excellence in Cross-disciplinary research) funding call which is jointly funded by the Royal Society, the British Academy, and the Royal Academy of Engineering. The funding scheme offers "established independent researchers, with a strong track record in their respective area and proven ability to lead collaborative work, an exciting opportunity to pursue genuine interdisciplinary and curiosity-driven research to benefit wider society".

Dr. Trakukphadetkrai's proposed study has already benefited from expertises of its Steering Committee which is made up of the world's leading scholars in neuroscience and mathematics education. (More details of the Steering Committee's members can be found below.) 

Given the EEG facilities at the University of Oxford would be used if the application was successful, Dr. Trakulphadetkrai has already secured official support from Oxfordshire County Council who would support the recruitment of students from across the 260+ primary schools in its region. 

The outcome will be announced in May 2025. 
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“Dr. Trakulphadetkrai is a well-established scholar whose work (both his research and his research impact-generating activities) has been recognised in the field of mathematics education nationally and internationally since he joined the University some 11 years ago. The proposed study by Dr. Trakulphadetkrai […] would allow academics from both the social sciences discipline (education) and the life sciences discipline (neuroscience) to learn from each other and collaborate on a project that could potentially create some novel scientific discoveries concerning how different mathematics teaching approaches may affect children’s brain activities differently.”

Dr. Sarah Marston
Head of the Institute of Education
University of Reading

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“Prof. Scerif has made nationally and internationally recognised contributions to the field of cognitive neuroscience. Her focus on the neural bases of cognitive control in neurotypical and neurodivergent learners is highly suited to the proposed topic of investigation. It complements Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s renowned expertise in mathematics education, and Professor Michelle Ellefson (Professor of Cognitive Science, University of Cambridge)’s expertise in developmental psychology.”

Professor Matthew Rushworth
Head of the Department of Experimental Psychology
University of Oxford

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“This project exemplifies the power of interdisciplinary collaboration, combining latest insights from the fields of mathematics education (social sciences) and cognitive science/neuroscience (life sciences). While Dr. Trakulphadetkrai is an internationally recognised expert in mathematics education research, the two co-applicants - Professor Ellefson and Professor Gaia Scerif (Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Oxford) - will provide complementary expertise in cognitive science and neuroscience. Together, their combined knowledge of cognition, executive functions, brain development, and their implications for mathematics learning processes will be instrumental in advancing the project’s goals.”

Professor Hilary Cremin
Head of the Faculty of Education
University of Cambridge
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​At the OECD headquarter, Dr. Trakulphadetkrai was able to introduce his MathsThroughStories.org initiative and its Young Mathematical Story Authors (YMSA) competition to the summit delegates, particularly in relation to how this innovative way of teaching and learning mathematics can help foster creativity in education – a theme of the summit. This is fitting as one of the keynote speakers – Her Excellency Dr. Maryam Mariya (Minister of Higher Education, Labour and Skills Development, Republic of Maldives) – has noted in her speech that storytelling can be a powerful strategy to foster creativity across the school curriculum.
 
Dr. Trakulphadetkrai was later able to personally share past YMSA entries by students from the Maldives and Singapore with Her Excellency Dr. Maryam Mariya and Sherwin Cheng (Director of the Curriculum Policy Office, Singapore’s Ministry of Education). When Dr. Trakulphadetkrai discussed the role of mathematical storytelling with His Excellency Dr. Justin Valentin (Minister of Education, Republic of Seychelles), it was revealed that Dr. Valentin was previously a Maths teacher and a storyteller, and is thus interested to learn more about Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s work.
 
Following the summit, Her Excellency Dr. Mariya has already put Dr. Trakulphadetkrai in touch with Dr. Aishath Shehenaz Adam (The Maldives National University’s Vice Chancellor) to explore the possibility of having Dr. Trakulphadetkrai delivers his Maths Through Stories training to teachers from across the Maldives in 2025. ​

​A Leverhulme research grant application led by Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Reading) with support from colleagues at the Universities of Cambridge and London (University College London's IoE) gets through to the next (and final) round where a more detailed version of the Outline Stage application will be submitted at the end of Summer 2024. 
 
The grant application is for a proposed ambitious large-scale project which will measure the effectiveness of an innovative low-cost mathematics teaching strategy whereby secondary school students create short mathematical story picture books within their regular Maths lessons. Its impact will be assessed on its ability to reduce the level of students’ mathematics anxiety, and fostering their self-efficacy in and attitudes towards mathematics learning as well as improving their mathematics attainment. In doing so, the project will bring new understanding of the role of storytelling in fostering mathematical understanding and positivity within an adolescent population whose mathematical development is currently under-explored. Such understanding is especially important given the recent UK government focus on making mathematics compulsory post-16.

His co-applicants on this grant application are Dr. Ros McLellan (University Associate Professor in Teacher Education & Development / Pedagogical Innovation, University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Education) and Dr. Flávia H. Santos (Lecturer, University of London, University College London's Institute of Education). 
 
This proposed project will build on Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s University of Reading Research Fellowship project (2019-2021) where he designed a similar project but with a focus on upper primary school children. 

​To learn more about Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s research interests, visit his profile page here and his MathsThroughStories.org project’s website here. He tweets at @NatthapojVinceT and @MathsStories.

​Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Reading) is one of the recipients this year to have won the British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research Grant.

​His project aims to explore the extent to which children (aged 9-10 years old) working in pairs to co-create a short story picture book about fractions helps them engage in using mathematical talk. This study is important as mathematical talk can foster children’s mathematical thinking. 60 pairs of Year 5 children of different ability levels in the Southeast of England will be randomly allocated to either an intervention or comparison cohort. Over the course of one 60-minute session, the intervention cohort children will work in pairs to co-create one short story picture book about fractions, while the comparison cohort children will work in pairs to solve fraction problems on worksheets. Children's conversations about fractions will be audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using statistical analyses to explore whether there is any statistically significant difference in the quantity and quality of talk about fractions across the two cohorts, when controlling for children’s age.

​The grant applications are assessed on: the quality and interest of the research proposal; the ability of the applicant to make a success of it based on their past track record; the feasibility of the methodology; the feasibility of the timescale; and the appropriateness of costs requested.

Dr. Trakulphadetkrai commented “I am pleased to be a recipient of this year’s highly competitive British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research Grant. This funded project is essentially a spin-off of my University Research Fellowship project (2019-2020, which was then extended to 2021 due to COVID). I hope this growing trackrecord in funding will help me attract further research grants in the future.”

The project will begin in October 2022 and end in September 2023.


To learn more about Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s research interests, click here. He tweets at @NatthapojVinceT.

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​In September, Jørn Ove Asklund, Astrid Kufaas Morken and Silje Neraas - academics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway’s largest public research university) - visited Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Reading) to learn about his Maths Through Stories research to help them develop their in-service teacher training course with a focus on mathematics and literacy.

At the meeting, Dr. Trakulphadetkrai shared the research findings from his University of Reading Research Fellowship project, and talked about his new British Academy / Leverhulme-funded research project. He then explained the format of his popular Maths Through Stories training course which he has delivered to over 3,500 pre- and in-service teachers in the UK and internationally, including an annual invitation (since 2020) from the University of Cambridge to help train their teacher trainees.

​The Norwegian colleagues were recommended to meet with Dr. Trakulphadetkrai by Professor Jeremy Hodgen (Professor of Mathematics Education at the UCL Institute of Education and Chair of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics).
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A co-authored research article by Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Reading), which set out to examine Taiwanese primary school teachers’ perceived barriers to and enablers for the integration of children’s literature in mathematics teaching and learning, has just been published in Springer’s Educational Studies in Mathematics journal – a leading peer-reviewed journal in the research field of mathematics education.
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This paper is the fourth output of an international survey study which Dr. Trakulphadetkrai leads and collaborates with academics in different countries to investigate the extent to which teachers integrate children’s literature in their mathematics teaching as well as their perceived barriers to and enablers for such integration. The first paper, second paper and third paper focus on Irish, Maltese and Australian teachers respectively. An upcoming paper will focus on teachers in England.

​The article is available free of charge here, thanks to the University of Reading’s Open Access funding.

His co-authors are Prof. Der Ching Yang (National Chiayi University, Taiwan), Iwan Andi Jonri Sianturi (Indiana University-Bloomington, USA), Dr. Chia Huang Chen (National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan) and Yi-Wen Su (University of Taipei, Taiwan).

​To learn more about Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s research interests, click here. He tweets at @NatthapojVinceT.

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​The MathsThroughStories.org website, developed by Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Reading), has reached a new milestone. Launched in 2017, the website has now been visited over a million times by over a quarter of a million teachers and parents from over 210 countries. (Click here for the Google Analytics report)

The website encourages teachers and parents globally to integrate storytelling as part of their mathematics teaching. The website offers a wide range of free on-line resources e.g., the world’s largest database of recommendations for mathematical stories (500+); reviews of mathematical stories (100+), lesson ideas as contributed by teachers from different countries, exclusive interviews with some of the world’s leading mathematical story authors, among other resources.

The development of the website has been informed by research findings from an international survey study that Dr. Trakulphadetkrai leads and collaborates on with academic colleagues in different countries to investigate the extent to which teachers integrate children’s literature in their mathematics teaching as well as their perceived barriers to and enablers for such integration. The project’s first paper, second paper, and third paper focus on reporting data collected from Irish teachers, Maltese teachers and Australian teachers respectively. The fourth paper is currently in press, and reports findings collected from Taiwanese teachers. The fifth paper will be the biggest study in the series and will report findings from English teachers. Altogether, the five papers collected survey data from over 1,700 teachers across the five countries.

In January 2020, a new guidance report by the UK’s Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), an independent charity sets out to improve the educational attainment of the poorest pupils in English schools, recommends MathsThroughStories.org as a go-to resource for teachers looking for ideas on how to enhance their mathematics teaching through storytelling. During the pandemic, schools throughout the UK also recommended the website to parents to support their children’s mathematics learning at home.
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“I am thrilled that the MathsThroughStories.org website has reached this incredible milestone. I love seeing teachers recommending my website to fellow teachers and parents on social media. I love seeing teachers tweeting photos of them using story picture books in their maths lessons as they had been so inspired by the website. I love seeing how the development of the website is informed by research findings of my international survey study and how the website helps teachers internationally change their mathematics teaching practice.”, Dr. Trakulphadetkrai commented.

MathsThroughStories.org can be found on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

To learn more about Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s research interests, click here. He tweets at @NatthapojVinceT.
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You can watch him talking about the MathsThroughStories.org website by clicking on the image below.

​A co-authored research article by Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Reading), which set out to examine Australian primary school teachers’ perceived barriers to and enablers for the integration of children’s literature in mathematics teaching and learning, has recently been published in Springer’s Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education. Thanks to the University of Reading's Open Access funding, the article is available free of charge here.

We are pleased to announce that both HarperCollins and Charlesbridge have officially renewed their sponsorship of our Young Mathematical Story Author (YMSA) competition.
 
The YMSA competition is the world's first annual international competition set up to encourage young mathematics learners (8-15 years old) from around the world to embed their mathematics learning in a meaningful and engaging context through creating their own mathematical story picture book. This competition is organised by MathsThroughStories.org, and its first competition was held in 2019.

For the past two years, HarperCollins and Charlesbridge have sponsored the Stuart J. Murphy Award (8-11 year olds category) and the Cindy Neuschwander Award (12-15 year olds category) respectively. For both awards, the winners get £100 cash prize each and their schools also get another £100 cash prize each.
 
HarperCollins is the publisher of MathStart, the world’s largest mathematical stories series authored by a single author (Stuart J. Murphy), and Charlesbridge the publisher of Cindy Neuschwander’s very successful Sir Cumference series.  
 
If you want to learn more about our 2021 YMSA competition, click here.  ​

Winning and shortlisted entries from our 2019 competition can be found here, and from our 2020 competition can be found here. 
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A co-authored paper by Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (founder of MathsThroughStoris.org and Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Reading), which set out to examine Maltese teachers’ perceived barriers to and enablers for the integration of children’s literature in mathematics teaching, has recently been published in Taylor and Francis’s Cogent Education journal. The article is available free of charge here.

This paper is the second paper in an international series of research papers that Dr. Trakulphadetkrai collaborates with academics in different countries to investigate the extent to which teachers use children's literature in mathematics teaching and their perceived barriers to and enablers for doing so. The first paper in the series focuses on Irish teachers and upcoming papers focus on teachers in Taiwan, Australia, Israel and England. 

To learn more about Dr. Trakulphadetkrai's research interests, click here. 

The Twitter account of MathsThroughStories.org (@MathsStories) now has over 5,000 Followers. 

Since the launch of the Twitter account, our on-line community has grown rapidly. It remains a very vibrant place for teachers, parents, researchers and storytellers who are passionate in the use of storytelling to enrich mathematics teaching and learning to come together and learn from one another. 

You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. 

Since school closures began earlier this year due to COVID19, parents have found themselves having to support their child's homeschooling. To that end, we are very pleased that many schools across the UK have recommended various free on-line resources on our MathsThroughStories.org website to parents. Some of these examples are included below. (More examples can be found in the bottom section of our Research Impact webpage.)

We are also very pleased that our website is also recommended in a recent blog post by the UK's Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), an independent charity sets out to improve the educational attainment of the poorest pupils in English schools. The blog post includes advice to support parents in their homeschooling effort. It is worth noting that our website is also highlighted as a go-to resource for teachers looking for ideas on how to enhance their mathematics teaching through storytelling in their guidance report at the beginning of this year. 

We are very proud of our work in that it has continued to serve as a trusted source of support for schools and parents, particularly during this challenging time.  
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​A new report by the UK's Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), an independent charity sets out to improve the educational attainment of the poorest pupils in English schools, recommends MathsThroughStories.org as a go-to resource for teachers looking for ideas on how to enhance their mathematics teaching through storytelling.

Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (founder of MathsThroughStories.org) commented that: 

"It is wonderful to see a guidance report by an influential organisation like the EEF explicitly recommends teachers to enhance their mathematics teaching using storytelling. As a cherry on top, it is humbling to see the report highlights my MathsThroughStories.org initiative as a go-to resource for teachers." 

The full report can be accessed here. 
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MathsThroughStories.org, a non-profit initiative, sets out to encourage teachers and parents globally to enhance their maths teaching through storytelling. The website provides free on-line resources including the world’s largest database of recommendations for maths stories, 100+ reviews of maths story picture books, exclusive interviews with maths story authors, blog posts, and a list of recommended research articles and articles written for practitioners. The website also provides free story-inspired maths lesson ideas as contributed by teachers from different countries. Last year, MathsThroughStories.org launched the world’s first international maths story writing competition, receiving over 200 entries from children in several countries. Since its launched in 2017, the website has been viewed over 390,000 times by more than 84,000 teachers and parents from over 190 countries.
Through Dr. Trakulphadetkrai, the initiative also collaborates with academics in different countries to work on original empirical research projects relating to the use of storytelling in maths teaching. To date, the initiative also provides CPD training to around 600 in-service teachers at schools and 2,000+ teacher trainees at 30+ universities throughout the UK.

​MathsThroughStories.org's Twitter account (@MathsStories), created in 2015 and officially opened in 2017, now has over 4,000 Followers. The account continues to provide a great platform where we can keep teachers and parents updated on what we do. We have also seen how several teachers use Twitter to directly recommend our initiative to other teachers - as captured on the Shoutouts page on our website.  

We are also excited to announce that we now have an Instagram account: @MathsThroughStories. We hope for those who are always on Instagram will enjoy having another channel of communication with us! Please follow our Instagram account and help spread the word about it :- )

We would love to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your on-going interest and support in our initiative. Don't forget to check out our Facebook page too! And who knows - we might push the boat out and have a YouTube page too! :- )

MathsThroughStories.org is featured in the new promotional brochure of the University of Reading's Institute of Education. The brochure highlights a number of 'stories' featuring a few selected staff and students of the Institute. In Dr. Trakulphadetkrai's (founder of MathsThroughStories.org) story, he explains how his research passion and expertise in mathematical story picture books are formed and the rationale behind his MathsThroughStories.org initiative. To access the full brochure, click here. 

​Over the past two years, Dr. Trakulphadetkrai has also been running free workshops at 30+ universities nationally and internationally to model to teacher educators his Maths Through Stories training approach so they themselves can train the next generations of teachers. Nearly 2,000 teacher trainees have received his training. Dr. Trakulphadetkrai has also been invited to meet with representatives of Ireland’s National Council for Curriculum and Assessment in Dublin in March 2019 to explore how explicit recommendations for Irish teachers to use storytelling can be included in the country’s upcoming primary mathematics curriculum.