Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Reading) introduced his MathsThroughStories.org initiative and his Young Mathematical Story Authors (YMSA) competition to education ministers and policy makers from different countries at an international education summit co-hosted by the UNESCO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Global Institute of Creative Thinking (GIoCT) in Paris.
Held across two days (17th-18th October 2024), the summit delegates were initially split into groups with each group assigned to visit a nursery, a primary school or a secondary school in Paris to observe its teaching and learning. The delegates then spent the remaining of Day 1 and Day 2 at the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) headquarter and the OECD headquarter respectively for some high-level discussions with representatives from the host organisations as well as other key stakeholders, such as education ministers and education policy makers from different countries.
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.
 The OECD Headquarter in Paris  Over 100 education stakeholders including education ministers and education policy makers from around the world attending the Paris summit  Dr. Trakulphadetkrai speaking at the summit  Dr. Trakulphadetkrai introduced his MathsThroughStories.org initiative and his Young Mathematical Story Authors (YMSA) competition to education ministers and policy makers from different countries      Over 100 education stakeholders including education ministers and education policy makers from around the world attending the Paris summit |  Andreas Schleicher (Director for Education and Skills, OECD) speaking at the summit  His Excellency Dr. Justin Valentin (Minister of Education, Republic of Seychelles) speaking at the summit  Dr. Trakulphadetkrai being interviewed at the end of the summit  With Her Excellency Dr. Maryam Mariya (Minister of Higher Education, Labour and Skills Development, Republic of Maldives)  With His Excellency Dr. Justin Valentin (Minister of Education, Republic of Seychelles)  With Sherwin Cheng (Director of the Curriculum Policy Office, Singapore’s Ministry of Education)  With Professor Pamela Burnard (Professor of Arts, Creativities and Educations, University of Cambridge), a member of the summit's organising team |
