ATSIMA (Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Mathematics Alliance) presentation - In for the Count: 5 ways to Improving Maths Outcomes with Indigenous students - by Dr Chris Matthews and Caty Morris to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Conference 2015, Melbourne

1. IN FOR THE COUNT
Improving mathematics outcomes with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students
1NATSIEC 2015 Melbourne Victoria
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mathematics Alliance
#atsima

2. IN FOR THE COUNT
1. What’s the current
status?
2. What do we know and
what’s happening?
3. What about the future?
2
“All Aboriginal and
Torres Strait
Islander students
will be successful
in mathematics”

3. Why do we need to do something?
3
0.
150.
300.
450.
600.
750.
2008 2010 2012 2014
Yr 3 Yr 5 Yr 7 Yr 9
Yr 3-9 NAPLAN Numeracy
2008-2014
Indigenous
Non-Indigenous
1. What’s the current status?

4. ‘Closing the Gap’
Prime Minister’s report 2015
41. What’s the current status?

5. Why do we need to do something?
Maths.
51. What’s the current status?
Opens. Doors.

6. Footy trip
6
Three adults are travelling on a dirt track to a footy game when
their car breaks down.
They start walking across a paddock to get to the main road.
Two children on a motorbike come along and help them.
The motorbike can only carry 1 Adult OR 2 children.
How many trips will be needed for everyone to get to the main
road?
2. What do we know and what’s happening?
2008, DECD SA, Interactive Numeracies:
Maths situations in everyday Indigenous
family and community life
Contact: enquires@atsima.org

7. 5 ways or priorities
1. Culture, identity and confidence
2. Leadership
3. Transition
4. Investment
5. Quality teaching and learning
72. What do we know and what’s happening?
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Mathematics Alliance Conference, 2014

8. Eco-system of relationships
8
Education Business
Community
Student
2. What do we know and what’s happening?
1. Culture, identity and confidence
2. Leadership
3. Transition
4. Investment
5. Quality teaching and learning

9. 9
– A student’s pride and wellbeing takes priority
– Teaching and learning must support and develop
cultural identity
– Schools need to validate different ways of learning
– Educate teachers about Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander mathematics and culture
– Whole of student and whole of school approach
2. What do we know and what’s happening?
5 ways: Culture, identity and confidence
“Our job is
to…recognise
mathematics in
culture, celebrate and
validate culture, and
recognise culture as
mathematical”

10. 5 ways: Leadership
Aboriginal &
Torres Strait
Islander
education
Mathematics
education
Skilful leadership means that Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander students and employees
experience cultural safety.
102. What do we know and what’s happening?
We need lots more
LEADERS working
at the intersection of
Aboriginal education
and maths
education!!!!
Are you taking a lead in this?
Are you able to take a lead?
Are you able to help others to
take a lead? enquiries@atsima.org

11. 5 ways: Leadership cont.
Community
• leading the aspirations
• developing the cultural language.
• vision for leadership is set by Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people
11
2. What do we know and what’s happening?
Business
• safe spaces ”where we can be
ourselves”
• access to careers are supported
• must lead investment in education
internally and externally
Schools
• embeds cultural perspectives
• lead change
• relevant to context
• gets kids ready for careers

12. 5 ways:Transition
12
“Maths ready in a
stepped learning
environment during
transition steps”
Fear
CuriosityAction
2. What do we know and what’s happening?

13. - Leadership in schools must be fully engaged
with a committed effort
- This will include following up with students
when they leave school
- Students feel that they are being invested in
132. What do we know and what’s happening?
5 ways:Transition
“We want the best for our students and
ensure they succeed.”

14. 5 ways: Investment
It’s not always the mighty dollar.
It also means investment in the local community, in
relationships, and in generosity of spirit.
It’s about building social capital in communities and
creating business investment in education.
142. What do we know and what’s happening?

15. 5 ways: Quality teaching and learning
Culture and mathematics
152. What do we know and what’s happening?
- Learning that does not divide mathematical
systems into constituent parts that destroy
relational meanings between them
- Rather, it supports a dynamic interplay between
culture and mathematics where the
intersection of the two creates new thinking
and knowledge - not just finding similarities and
differences between them

16. • recognising relationships within different number concepts to make sense of, and represent numerically, a range of
community activities and social processes
• using computational tools and strategies, and understanding and representing the thinking processes used to solve
problems
• identifying, describing, constructing, representing and predicting patterns and relationships when working with
data, measuring and calculating. Learners relate these patterns and relationships to their everyday lives
• demonstrating, recording and reporting on logical and critical thought processes by searching for and abstracting
generational algebraic representations from patterns drawn from current social situations
• employing everyday language and mathematical symbols to represent and communicate generalisations about
mathematical situations and structures (eg calculating petrol costs per person and how many people will cover the
costs)
• analysing mathematical structures and using algebraic formulae to represent situations. Learners develop further
the capacity to express themselves and to solve problems involving linear relationships.
16
5 ways: Quality teaching and learning cont
Culture and mathematics
2. What do we know and what’s happening?

17. 5 ways: Quality teaching and learning
Culture and mathematics cont
Dr Chris Matthews, https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/approach/indigenous_res_culture_and_maths.pdf
172. What do we know and what’s happening?

20. 20
http://mic.aamt.edu.au 8ways.wikispaces.com
2. What do we know and what’s happening?
Story Sharing
Learning Maps
Non-verbal
Symbols & Images
Community Links
Deconstruct
Reconstruct
Non-Linear
Land Links
5 ways: Quality teaching and learning cont
8ways – Orange Public School (2009-2013)

21. Layer 1: professional learning that looks for
ideas to teach the next day
Layer 2: professional learning programs that
offer packages
5 ways: Quality teaching and learning cont
21
Layer 3: professional learning that is about deep
pedagogic change or shift, changes a teacher’s
thinking.
…requires quality
professional
learning
2. What do we know and what’s happening?

22. 22
Responsive
mathematics
pedagogy
Academically
responsive
Culturally
responsive
5 ways: Quality teaching and learning cont
3 ways to catch a kangaroo
2. What do we know and what’s happening?
Socially
responsive

23. 5 ways: Quality teaching and learning cont
232. What do we know and what’s happening?

24. Some projects/initiatives
24
1. Koori students STEM camp*
- ATSIMA, NSW AECG, NSW DET
2. Garma Maths with Yirrkala*
3. National Indigenous engineering summit*
- http://conference.eng.unimelb.edu.au/national-indigenous-engineering-summit
4. CSIRO/BHP Indigenous STEM education program
- PRIME Futures with Yumi Deadly Maths Centre
- Plus 5 other STEM project
-http://www.csiro.au/en/Education/Programs/Indigenous-STEM/About-Mathematics
5. Australian Maths and Science Partnership Program*
- Excellence and equity in mathematics project with UniSA and AAMT http://xe.edu.au
6. Round table*
*ATSIMA involved
2. What do we know and what’s happening?

25. The growing STEM agenda
What
• STEM camps?
• Entrepreneurship and innovation early in the school curriculum?
253. What about the future?
How
• Community – education – business eco-system driving STEM initiatives
for Indigenous students?
• 5 priorities: Culture, identity & confidence | Leadership | Transition |
Investment | Quality teaching and learning
Why
• Because science, technology, engineering and maths can make
a difference?

26. Contact us
Become a member of ATSIMA
26
www.atsimanational.ning.com
@ATSIMAAu | #ATSIMA
www.facebook.com/atsimalliance
Dr Chris Matthews
Caty Morris
enquiries@atsima.org
3. What about the future?
“All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students will be successful in mathematics”