Among the 196 released items, about a quarter of them were classified as
challenging. With such a significant proportion of the items being challenging, it is
not difficult to understand why the culture of challenge develops in a typical
mathematics classroom.
The challenging items were used in an intact class of 38 pupils (aged 11 to 12
years old) in their sixth and final year of primary school. They were observed over a
period of three months solving problems individually or in pairs. The final part of the
paper described the initial observations and how the data help us how challenging
mathematics can become accessible to all pupils.