Research School Network: Mathematical problem solving: space for struggle How giving pupils space to think and explore can build confidence

In this blog, Andrew explores the importance of promoting the process in problem-solving and allowing pupils space for struggle rather than over-scaffolding.

Ms Corr presented her Year 4 pupils with this mathematical problem. She knew they all had the prerequisite knowledge to attempt it. But some children struggled to make a start, some immediately wanted support and others were so fixated on finding an answer they gave little space for exploration.

Problem solving should sit at the heart of maths. Yet, for many of our children, it feels like the moment maths stops making sense.

So, what’s going wrong?

Tripping up over problem solving

Problem solving is sometimes taught as procedures to copy rather than thinking to develop. Tasks are broken down so carefully, hints are offered so quickly, and methods are modelled so explicitly that children never practise deciding what to do first.

We tell children to ​‘try a strategy or method’, but then we continue to reward speed and accuracy, thus setting children up to fail in problem solving. We offer word problems that look different on the surface but are structurally predictable underneath. Children learn to hunt for the right formula rather than make sense of the situation – this is not problem solving.

The result is predictable: children can solve familiar tasks confidently but freeze when the path isn’t signposted or it is non-routine.

Not every question that looks hard or has a lot of words is a problem, and not every word problem is genuinely problematic.

Promoting the process rather than the product

In recommendation 3 of the EEF’s Improving mathematics guidance report, problem solving refers to situations in which pupils do not have a readily available method that they can use. Instead, they have to approach the problem flexibly and work out a solution for themselves.

These problems are perplexing. They require exploration.

The value lies not just in the answer, but in the thinking — noticing patterns, testing ideas, refining approaches. For children to be good problem solvers, the answer is not the most important thing, how they have approached the problem and the strategies they use are. This is what we should be promoting to our children.

Owning problem solving: space for struggle

Owning mathematics doesn’t mean children instantly solve everything independently. It means they begin to:

• tolerate uncertainty
• accept and learn from mistakes
• make decisions without guarantees
• justify choices, rather than recall rules

This kind of ownership requires space for struggle — but not abandonment. It requires teachers to resist over-scaffolding while still curating experiences carefully.

The question is not whether to support children, but when and how.

If we want children who don’t panic when the method isn’t obvious — who can think, adapt, and persist — then problem solving cannot be an add-on. It must be built deliberately into the curriculum.

Knowing mathematics is necessary. Owning the space for struggle is transformative.