The findings discussed here are a small part of a larger study entitled, Encouraging Persistence Maintaining Challenge. The paper reports five teachers’ observations of the implementation of a task which was new to them. The teachers were asked to identify aspects of the task which they perceived as challenging for the Year 6 students. The teachers’ responses are discussed using a framework of features of challenging tasks proposed by Sullivan et al.(2011). The findings show that teachers identified the challenges involved as demanding mathematical reasoning, interpreting complex mathematics and in expecting students to create their own solution pathways.

The Encouraging Persistence Maintaining Challenge project 1 (EPMC) is researching a range of issues including the kinds of teacher practice which might encourage students to persist when working on challenging tasks in mathematics. It is a complex project with many important elements that are not included in this paper, including teacher interviews, student observations, and different survey instruments completed by teachers and students. The particular research question addressed in this paper is: What do teachers see as the extent of challenge in selected tasks and activities? Sullivan et al.(2011) characterised challenging tasks as those which require students to: