Remote numeracy - STEM Education Research Centre (SERC)

Celebrating Success: Numeracy in remote Indigenous contexts

Australian Research Council Discovery Grant

Robyn Jorgensen

National statistics for the numeracy success of students living in remote areas of Australia are alarming. Many Indigenous students leave school functioning at very low levels of numeracy. The reasons for this are complex and often specific to particular areas. Different issues impact on particular communities or regions so a single approach to numeracy is difficult to achieve. In this educational landscape there are many success stories.

This project aims to document and celebrate these successful cases. The project will document approximately 32 cases from around Australia and across systems. It is recognised that within any context, different factors may be working including the work of teachers, leaders, community, partnership or a particular curriculum reform or indeed any combination of these.

Funded by the Australian Research Council, the study will be conducted over 3 years. Results from the study will be documented in the form of school reports and made available under the case studies tab so the successes can be shared with the immediate community.

If your school is experiencing success in numeracy, and you would like to be included in the study, please email the research team for more information.

There is considerable diversity across the remote indigenous educational landscape where there are stark differences in the success (or not) of Indigenous learners, particularly in the area of mathematics/numeracy. There are some very talented teachers, leaders, schools and communities who have managed to succeed in this area. This project seeks to document 32 cases across Australia where teachers/schools have been successful in the teaching of numeracy/ mathematics. But what makes it work in these communities when the general trend is the opposite?

Aims

The project has three key aims:

To document 32 case studies of successful practice across Australia – SA, NSW, QLD and WA.
To explore trends and possibilities that may occur across a number of schools to identify particular patterns; and
To share these case studies with other teachers, schools, systems and policy makers so that they can recognise the range of successful strategies that can be used to support numeracy learning for remote and very remote learners.

It is recognised that learners, communities and contexts vary considerably and one hat will not fit all situations. The 32 case studies are likely to show the diversity of quality approaches and the range of factors that teachers and schools negotiate as they develop their effective strategies.

Method

The method employed for the study is based on case studies of the individual sites. The approach sees the research team visit each site and works with various participants in those sites to develop the story for the school or case. Schools have been selected based on one of two approaches. First is through the use of NAPLAN data since this provides some indication of success. However, we also recognise that this approach as limitations and have asked for sites to be nominated by their employing group or organisations since they are in a position to know which schools/sites are going well even though this may not be adequately reflected in NAPLAN scores. The project has been negotiated and approved by the various authorities from which the schools have been drawn.

The steps undertaken in the approach are as follows:

Liaise with the various states and authorities to find possible sites for the study. Gain approval from the various authorities for entry to sites.
Approach sites for their willingness to be included in the study.
Visit each site for approximately one week to engage with the various stakeholders in those sites. Interview key stakeholders including teachers, principals/ leaders, Indigenous staff, community members; observe lessons, collect artifacts (documents etc) that collectively will enable a rich case study to be developed for each site. Individual case studies will be shared with the school.
Share case studies through a common website so that teachers and school leaders are able to access these resources for their own schools. Some schools have opted to be named while others have the option to be anonymised.

Note: All aspects of the method are subject to negotiation with the regulatory boards, authorities and communities.

Publications arising from the project

Following is a list of publications arising from the Remote Numeracy project.

Jorgensen, R. (2015, accepted). Curriculum leadership: Reforming and reshaping successful practice in remote and regional Indigenous education. In G. Johnson & N.Dempster (eds) tbc Dordrecht: Springer.

Jorgensen, R. (2015, in press). Language, culture and access to mathematics: A case of one remote Aboriginal community. Journal of Intercultural Education.

Jorgensen, R. (2015). Successful Mathematics Lessons in Remote Communities: A Case Study of Balargo. In M. Marshman, V. Geiger, & A. Bennison (Eds.). Mathematics education in the margins (Proceedings of the 38th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia) pp. 317–324. Sunshine Coast: MERGA. June 2015.

Jorgensen, R. (2015) Building school cultures to support learning mathematics for Remote Indigenous learners. In Beswick, K., Muir, T., & Wells, J. (Eds.) (2015). Proceedings of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol 3) pp. Hobart, Australia: PME.

Jorgensen, R. & Kanwal, H. (2015). Scafffolding early Indigenous learners into the language of mathematics. In Mukhopadhyay, S., & Greer, B. (2015). Proceedings of the Eighth Mathematics Education and Society Conference, pp. 657–669. Portland, OR: Ooligan Press. June 2015.

Jorgensen, R. (2015). Mathematical success in culturally diverse Mathematics classrooms. In Mukhopadhyay, S., & Greer, B. (2015). Proceedings of the Eighth Mathematics Education and Society Conference, pp. 670–683. Portland, OR: Ooligan Press. June 2015.

Reports

1. Remote Numeracy Report Final Report (April 2018) (7.9 MB PDF File)

2. Remote Numeracy Interim Report (September 2015) (3.7 MB PDF File)

Case studies

Following is a list of case studies that have been completed to date, from schools taking part in the study. They are sorted alphabetically by school. The reports will be made available on this site as they are finalised.