Describes the Cluster aims, research questions, methodology etc.

1. Make It Count
Chris Hurst & Len Sparrow, Curtin University

2. Numeracy, mathematics
and urban Indigenous
learners

3.  Document and share effective models of teacher
professional development, whole school change and
community engagement in relation to mathematics
and numeracy
 Develop whole school approaches to mathematics
and numeracy that result in markedly improved
achievement by Indigenous students
 Build and participate in networks and professional
learning communities
 Be a catalyst and support for action by others and
influence others on mathematics and numeracy
learning of Indigenous students

4.  Eight diverse Clusters in five states; a Key School in each:
 Nerang and Gladstone in Qld
 Orange and Hebersham in NSW
 Healesville in Vic
 Alberton and Noarlunga in SA
 Culunga in WA (Culunga, Moorditj & Swan View)
 Around 100 Indigenous students in each Cluster
 Runs until end of 2012
 Work in areas indentified as important by the Cluster
 Support from AAMT and others (academics, consultants
etc)

5.  Direct funding to Clusters around $170k
each over the project
 Some funds held in Cluster; funds for
consultants to work with schools and
communities held centrally by AAMT
 All spending summarized in Cluster Plan
 The Make it Count Network Meetings
funded centrally

6.  AAMT will be working intensively with the
Clusters (Professional Officer Caty Morris)
 Non-school members of the MIC Network
will be ‘contracted’ to provide specific
support
 Other schools and Clusters in MIC
 Dare to Lead, WhatWorks and other
initiatives
 Academic friends

7.  Community engagement that supports
Indigenous students’ learning in
mathematics
 Professional learning teams in schools and
in clusters
 Curriculum development
 Informing and influencing others

8.  Develop and ‘stick to’ the Cluster Plans as these
evolve
 Support and be involved in the evaluation of the
project
 Contribute to the development of reports and
other materials emerging from the work of the
project
 Take part in the activities of the MIC Network
 Willing and able to share their work with others
 Be accountable for project funds

9.  “Aboriginal children bring to these schools a
cultural orientation that is not well understood
and is often perceived as being deficient”. This
is exacerbated by the fact that teachers, most
of whom do not come from an Indigenous
background, do not fully appreciate the fact
that Indigenous children are subject to two quite
different sets of family and community
expectations. (Perso, 2003)

10.  Perso (2009) underlined the need for teachers to
develop ‘cultural competence’ in order to
“... demonstrate behaviours and attitudes that
engage, build and maintain relationships with Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander peoples”
 Sullivan (2009) … Students’ prior knowledge and
background must be acknowledged and built upon and
that teachers need to look at children not only from a
‘mathematical viewpoint’ but also consider their
complete socio-cultural background.

11.  Quinn (2009) “… teacher student relationship is
monumentally important”, and success is more likely
when the curriculum is relevant and appropriate.
 Frigo (1999) ... the need for culturally appropriate
content and strategies to reflect the learning needs of
Indigenous children ... and ...the complex nature of
issues related to language and mathematical learning.
 Frigo (1999) “It is crucial that teachers are encouraged
to have high expectations for all of their students and
therefore of themselves”.

12.  Parkin and Hayes (2006) ... many Indigenous
children were competent with the mathematical
processes involved but struggled when problems
were embedded in an apparent ‘real-life’ context.
This was due to children “... not being able to
access the language of maths ” ... and ... “ had no
way of interpreting the problem, identifying the
mathematical processes and consequently
completing the task”

13.  Indigenous children in Australian schools
could be regarded as ESL (English as Second
Language) learners. For some of them, the
language spoken at home is an Aboriginal
dialect or ‘Aboriginal English’, a type of
‘kriol’ language, or a mixture of English and
a local dialect.

14. The Swan Valley Cluster
Culunga Aboriginal School
 75 Indigenous students K-7 (100%)
Moorditj Noongar Community College
 130 Indigenous students K-7 (100%)
Swan View Primary School
 45 Indigenous students K-7 (12%)

15. Culunga School

16. Culunga vegetable
garden

17. Culunga
environment

18.  What are the needs of this group of
Indigenous children in the learning of
mathematics?
 What factors have an impact on these
children’s mathematics learning?
 What factors within the school and
community context could be used to
enhance children’s learning of
mathematics?

19. An interpretive approach was taken
and data were gathered in an attempt
to understand the situation in a
detailed way.
Qualitative data gathering techniques
were used in order to gain broad
perspectives on the research
issues/questions.

20.  Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a range
of school and community personnel, including
 Principal
 Teaching staff
 Aboriginal and Islander Education Officers (AIEO)
 School Administrator
 Chair of the School Board
 A community elder
 In addition, the researchers visited classrooms and
informally observed teaching in action.

21. Base-line data about student numeracy and
mathematical content knowledge were gathered
from
 Diagnostic interviews with children in Years 1 to 7
conducted by teacher education students. The
interview instrument used was the interview
schedule developed in the Early Numeracy
Research Project (ENRP).
 Students’ achievement on NAPLAN tests
 Implementation of First Steps in Mathematics
(FSiM) diagnostic tasks

22. Low and intermittent student attendance
rates
Low levels of student engagement
Low level of parent involvement
Low literacy levels
Low expectations of students
Low numeracy levels

23. student attendance rates
student literacy levels
parent involvement
student engagement
NAPLAN performance
expectations for students

24. 1. Mathematical needs of this group of
Indigenous children
 Improved NAPLAN performance and ‘test literacy’
▪ Counting – need for greater flexibility in thinking
▪ Place Value – need for a broader view
▪ Need to have a rich understanding of concepts such
as place value, as opposed to knowing procedures
▪ Improved literacy link to numeracy, related to
reading and comprehending

25. 2. Factors impacting on children’s
mathematical learning
 Level of expectations
 Attendance rates
 Attention span
 Use of manipulatives (hands on)
 Contextualising mathematics

26. 3. Factors within the school context that
could enhance learning
 Level of parent involvement, distance from
home, and access to transport
 Family Days
 Role of the teacher
 Teacher professional learning

27.  Raise expectations for student learning
 Professional development for teaching &
support staff
 Increase parent involvement in the
educational program
 Increase student engagement
 Target specific aspects of the mathematics
curriculum that require development

28.  P.D. in ‘explicit teaching’ and in the raising of
expectations
 Staff collaboration across three schools
 Sharing of staff expertise across schools
 P.D. led by ‘academic friends’
 Family Days
 FSiM P.D. for teaching staff, EAs, and AIEOs
 Resource making workshops – combined
across three schools