Breaking through the fear: exploring the mathematical resilience toolkit with anxious FE students

ABSTRACT Approximately one in three people worldwide suffers from mathematics anxiety, with scholarly literature demonstrating that it has significant consequences for both individuals and wider society. While underlying related concepts, such as self-efficacy and emotional regulation, have been studied, there has been less research into accessible, practical approaches that teachers, support staff, carers and learners can use to overcome emotional barriers to learning mathematics. However, one exception is the Mathematical Resilience Toolkit by Johnston-Wilder et al. This paper reviews the research underpinning the Mathematical Resilience Toolkit, introduces the concept of psychological safety, and presents and evaluates the results of a small-scale study. The Toolkit was used with eight mature GCSE mathematics learners in a further education college. In this exploratory study, data were collected from interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. The key themes that emerged highlight the importance of addressing emotional aspects of learning mathematics in the classroom for those returning to mathematics from adverse prior experiences. All participants rated the Mathematical Resilience Toolkit as ‘extremely useful’ and would advise using it as a practical strategy for any adult with anxiety in mathematics learning. This approach warrants further research to establish its efficacy in different contexts.