Role
Rebekah is a Lecturer in Primary Education. In her capacity as a lecturer, she is involved in a range of undergraduate and post graduate initial teacher training education courses including the BA Honours and PGCE.
Career overview
Prior to joining NTU in 2022, Rebekah worked across Nottinghamshire as a primary school teacher and leader. She is an accredited Mastery Specialist for the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics and continues to work closely with the East Midlands Maths hubs; currently, facilitating a research innovation work group centred upon equity within mathematics practices. Rebekah co-ordinates a Maths Leadership development group for primary mathematics curriculum leaders across Nottinghamshire for the Diverse Association for Professional Learning. In addition, she continues to support local schools and teachers develop and deliver their primary mathematics professional development offer. She is continually updating her skills and has presented papers at local, national and international conferences.
Research areas
Rebekah is particularly interested in curriculum and leadership in primary education. More specifically she is interested in:
- Primary Mathematics
- Inclusion and Special Educational Needs
- Leadership and Management
- Cognitive Science
- Research Led Teaching
External activity
Editorial Board for Education 3 - 13 journal
Ethics Committee Chartered College of Teaching
School Governor Hillocks Primary Academy
Vice Chair of the Executive Board for the Association for the Study of Primary Education
Publications
Rebekah hosts a personal blog space titled: 'Humble Thoughts from just a Teacher'
Conference presentations:
Gear, R., 2023, June. Playing the Game: The teaching and learning of multiplication tables. Paper presented at the Flying High Futures Maths Conference. Nottingham, UK.
Gear, R and Hurley R., 2022, September. Curriculum Conversations: Planning for purpose and pedagogy. Paper presented at Principles for Curriculum Excellence – ensuring a debate for the future. Why this is important for senior leaders? Education Learning Trust. Manchester, UK.
Gear, R. and Kassim-Lowe, T., 2022, September. 'It all adds up!’
Exploring the implications of social capital on children's metacognition. Paper presented at the Association of Teachers of Mathematics 2022 Virtual Conference online.
Gear, R. and Sood, K., 2021, July. How are middle leaders developing a leadership culture to support sustainable curriculum change in maths in an English primary school? Paper presented at the 4th National ECD Conference ‘Building High Quality ECD research and practice in South Africa: Birth to Grade R’ The South African Research Association for Early Childhood Education (SARAECE) online.
Gear, R. and Sood, K., 2022, July. How does Teaching for Mastery mixed ability group improve mathematical achievement for all? Paper presented at the Children and Childhoods Conference at the University of Suffolk. Ipswich, UK.
Journal Publications:
Gear, R., 2022. A curriculum masterclass: Inspired by lessons we have learned from mathematics. Impact: Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching, 14, 59-61.
Gear, R., 2022. How do children with special educational needs experience retrieval practice? Impact: Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching [online], 16 (September). Available via: https://my.chartered.college/impact/issue-16-autumn-2022/ [Accessed 03 October 2022].
Gear, R., 2022. Teaching for Mastery and Textbook tensions. Mathematics Teaching: Journal of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics, 280, 25-26.
Gear, R., 2023. Reaching into Research. Insights from Primary Classrooms. Journal of the Association for the Study of Primary Education. 1
Gear, R., Hurley, R and Waters, M., 2023. Curriculum innovation: Considering the connections between policymakers, leaders and teachers. Impact: Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching, 18, 14-16.
Gear, R and Kassim-Lowe, T. 2023. From consumers to contributors: The transition of early career researchers. Research Intelligence. British Educational Research Association, 155, 14.
Gear, R and Kassim-Lowe, T. 2024. Reframing ‘disadvantaged’ as ‘underserved’ in mathematics education professional development design. Impact: Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching, 20, 14-16.
Gear, R. and Sood, K., 2021. School Middle Leaders and Change Management: Do They Need to Be More on the “Balcony” than the Dance Floor? Education Sciences [online], 11 (11) (20 November), 1-12. Available via: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/11/753
Book Contributions:
Gear, R. and Sood, K., 2022. An auto-ethnographic study exploring middle leaders’ strategic leadership to impact children’s learning. In Ebrahim, H.B., Harrison, G., Ashley-Cooper, M., Martin, C.D., & Shaik, N. (Eds). Voices from the Early Childhood Care and Education Field in South Africa: Research and Promising Practices for New Directions. Pretoria: South African Research Association of Early Childhood Education. ISBN: 978-1-998981-43-4.
Articles for a wider audience:
Beauchamp, G. and Gear, R., 2023. ASPE: a too well-kept secret?. Education 3-13, , 1-3. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2023.2252248.
Gear, R., 2019. Creating Connections or Causing Confusion? Nottingham Institute of Education Blog: Research informed opinions on the world of teaching and education [online blog], 4 June. Available at: https://nottinghaminstituteofeducation.wordpress.com/2019/06/04/creating-connections-or-causing-confusion/
Gear, R., 2021. More to an MA than meets the eye. Nottingham Institute of Education Blog: Research informed opinions on the world of teaching and education [online blog], 3 November. Available at: https://nottinghaminstituteofeducation.wordpress.com/2021/11/03/more-to-an-ma-than-meets-the-eye/
Gear, R., 2021. The reality of Rosenshine. Nottingham Institute of Education Blog: Research informed opinions on the world of teaching and education [online blog], 15 February. Available at: https://nottinghaminstituteofeducation.wordpress.com/2021/02/15/the-reality-of-rosenshine/
Gear, R., 2022. A cognitive science complication? Conversations with children. Nottingham Institute of Education Blog: Research informed opinions on the world of teaching and education [online blog], 27 May. Available at: https://nottinghaminstituteofeducation.wordpress.com/2022/05/27/a-cognitive-science-complication-conversations-with-children/
Gear, R., 2022. A declarative knowledge dilemma. Nottingham Institute of Education Blog: Research informed opinions on the world of teaching and education [online blog], 4 January. Available at: https://nottinghaminstituteofeducation.wordpress.com/2022/01/04/a-declarative-knowledge-dilemma/
Gear, R., 2023. An environmental crisis in the Early Years classroom. Nottingham Institute of Education Blog: Research informed opinions on the world of teaching and education [online blog], 12 January. Available at: https://nottinghaminstituteofeducation.wordpress.com/2023/01/12/an-environmental-crisis-in-the-early-years-classroom/
Gear, R., 2023. How does the use of an intensive training and practice (ITaP) period enhance students’ professional placement experiences, whilst strengthening their application of theory into practice? Innovative Practice in Higher Education [online] 1 November. Available at: https://journals.staffs.ac.uk/index.php/ipihe/issue/view/17
Gear, R. and Kassim-Lowe, T., 2023. Designing effective professional development in maths. Education Endowment Foundation Blog [online blog], 23 January. Available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/news/eef-blog-designing-effective-professional-development-design-in-maths
Gear, R. and Mistry, M., 2022. What is the impact of mindfulness based interventions? ASPE Bulletin [online], (35) June, 1-4. Available via: https://www.aspe-uk.eu/bulletins/
Gear, R. and Sood, K., 2021. The impact of pupil voice and the social nature of learning on mathematical thinking and problem solving: Stories from a Year 5 primary classroom. ASPE Bulletin [online], (28) (October), 1-4. Available via: https://www.aspe-uk.eu/bulletins/
Gear, R. and Sood K., 2022. The messiness of “doing” Middle Leadership: the position(ality) of our unsung heroes. Nottingham Institute of Education Blog: Research informed opinions on the world of teaching and education [online blog], 27 October. Available at: https://nottinghaminstituteofeducation.wordpress.com/2022/10/27/the-messiness-of-doing-middle-leadership-the-positionality-of-our-unsung-heroes/
Gear, R and Woodford, M., 2022. Playing the game. Equals: Realising potential in mathematics for all [online], (27) 3 (October), 20-23. Available via: https://www.m-a.org.uk/equals-online