94 Design Issues for Mathematics Clubs for Early Grade Learners Mellony Graven 1 & Debbie Stott 2 Rhodes University, South Africa 1 m.graven@ru.ac.za, 2 d.stott@ru.ac.za After-school Mathematics Clubs hold the potential for increasing student opportunity to learn and enrich their mathematical experiences in ways that are free from curriculum and assessment driven teaching practices. As part of the work of the South African Numeracy Chair we plan to rollout mathematics clubs focused on grade 3 learners. In this paper we explore a framework for the design of such clubs and explore some of the design dilemmas that we confront in moving into the implementation phase of these clubs. Introduction In this paper we argue that after-school mathematics clubs hold the potential for addressing some of the challenges that young numeracy learners face. We argue that numeracy clubs should be conceptualised as inquiry communities where sense making, active mathematical engagement and participation, and mathematical confidence building are foregrounded. How to design clubs so as to maximise learning in relation to each of these features is a challenge that we want to address in this paper. In the design of these clubs we draw on communities of practice / inquiry literature (Jaworski, 2001, 2006a, 2006b; Wenger, 1998) and Valsiner’s Zone Theory (1987) which has been further developed by Goos, Dole and Makar (2007a). We conclude the paper with a brief discussion of the post design phase which will involve the rollout of clubs to various schools as well as research into the nature of learning within these clubs. A brief note about ourselves as authors. Mellony Graven holds the South African Numeracy Chair at Rhodes University and Debbie Stott is a part time doctoral student in the Chair who is researching: How do learners’ mathematical identities and mathematical proficiency evolve in relation to their participation in informal after-school Maths Clubs designed as communities of inquiry? Background Graven (2011) argues for the potential of extra curricula Maths Clubs in providing supportive communities where learners can live out different stories. She argues that, from a young age, pervasive use of terms such as, failure, struggle, stress, nervous, hopeless and so forth, in learner mathematical stories resonate with experiences of emotional abuse and thus argues for the need for urgent intervention. While the paper focuses on exploring the design and research implications for early grade mathematics clubs (as a deliberate intervention focused on creating more positive learner identities - and thus stories) this is not to deny the need for mathematics classrooms to provide the opportunity for more participatory and positive learner identities. Graven argues from her own experience of running a primary and an FET mathematics club when she ventured back into the school world as a mathematics teacher in 2009 and 2010 that the extra curricula nature of such clubs provided her with increased freedom. This freedom allowed her to intentionally focus on the deliberate construction of positive participatory mathematical identities at the expense of covering the range of skills and knowledge required to ‘get through’ the curriculum or keep up with the other classes and work required for common assessments. Following on from these experiences Graven went on to include the conceptualisation of learner clubs as a key aspect of the South African Numeracy Education Chair at Rhodes University. The Chair currently works with 57 numeracy teachers from fifteen primary schools in the broader Grahamstown area. In this paper we focus on our joint exploration of the design and research of Grade 3 after-school mathematics clubs that will be rolled out to several participating schools in 2012 and we highlight