Socio-geographic dimensions
of mathematics education
School mathematics is a key learning
area in education and is an important
indicator for success in adult life.
Ensuring better access to school
mathematics is of national importance.
This project specifically looks at
mathematics teachers and their
practices and identifies what factors
influence the creation of strong learning
environments.
The aim is to better understand the
factors that impact on student learning
in mathematics and teacher practices,
particularly in relation to social and
geographic dimensions.
The project will attempt to address
the following questions:
1. How do the factors of social and
geographic location impact on
numeracy learning?
2. What factors impact on teachers’
capacity to provide quality
teaching environment for
mathematics learning?
3. How do teachers’ identities and
beliefs shape their teaching
practices for students in low SES
and rural contexts? Do teaching
practices differ in different
contexts—namely in schools
of varying socioeconomic and
geographic location?
Background
The research process
A large section of the
Australian population
underachieves in
mathematics, with a strong
correlation between the
low social background/
rural location with
underachievement. Too
many students from poor
urban backgrounds or from
rural communities are at
risk of failure in school
mathematics.
Phase 1: Profiling teachers of
mathematics
This project identifies
the critical factors
which contribute to the
performance (both low
and high) of students
from diverse social
backgrounds, urban and
rural. It asks “what are
the factors that contribute
to underachievement in
numeracy?” and seeks to
identify how practices might
be improved to enable
greater access to school
mathematics.
In this first phase, we ask:
1) What aspects of a mathematics
teacher’s profile (including mathematics
background, dispositions, beliefs,
qualifications, professional development)
best predict the type of school in which
they work?
In order to find out about who is teaching,
we have developed a comprehensive
survey, drawing on international research.
Here we invite any and all teachers of
school maths – metropolitan or rural,
novice or expert, primary or secondary – to
participate. We want to know about their
qualifications, experience and what they
know and feel about teaching maths. The
online survey only takes about 20 minutes
to complete and is completely anonymous.
We encourage all teachers of maths to
participate.
This is one of the largest and most
comprehensive surveys of its type every
undertaken in Australia.
Phase 2: Exploring the practices within
classroom contexts
This phase of the investigation considers:
1) Which pedagogical practices best foster
learning engagement with students and
promote quality mathematics outcomes
across diverse socio-economic settings?
2) What, if any, relationships exists
between pedagogical practices, learning
environments and students’ numeracy
performance?
The second phase focuses on the
attributes, characteristics and practices of
classroom teachers in specific settings:
metropolitan/rural, low/high socioeconomic.
A comprehensive analysis incorporates
lesson observations and interviews with key
personnel.
Feedback will be provided to participant
schools.
Phase 3: Developing a rich description of
mathematics education
This final phase of the investigation
considers:
1) What external factors further contribute
to our understanding of the practices that
shape mathematics teaching and learning?
2) Which structuring practices have relative
influence (both positive/negative) in the
contexts identified in this study?
The third phase of the investigation builds
on from phase two to consider the impact
the entire school mathematics culture has
on practices, including whether the habitus
of teachers and culture of schools contribute
to student outcomes. Documents will be
collected from participating classes and
schools.
This phase highlights best practice
pedagogies in diverse social/cultural
settings as a way of describing effective
and sustainable pedagogies for all students
irrespective of social (dis)advantage.
Our approach allows us to explore what
is typical and atypical in order to better
understand what works and what is
problematic.
Biography
Professor Robyn Jorgensen
is an internationally renowned
educational researcher whose
work in equity, particularly
the social practices that
contribute to patterns of
success, in numeracy/mathematics education
and in pedagogy has been used to inform the
development of this project. She has led many
significant research projects and has been a
lead researcher on nine Australian Research
Council grants. This extensive body of research
has seen Robyn working across a wide range of
settings, including those in remote Indigenous
communities and lower socioeconomic settings.
She brings this wealth of experience to the
Socio-Geographic Dimensions of Mathematics
Education project.
Professor Tom Lowrie is the
Director of the Research
Institute for Professional
Practice, Learning and
Education (RIPPLE) at Charles
Sturt University. He has an
established international research profile in
the discipline area of mathematics education.
His research focuses on understanding and
improving the numeracy outcomes of those
students living in rural and remote contexts,
with a particular interest in the way children use
spatial imagery and visual reasoning to solve
mathematics tasks. With more than 20 years’
experience teaching in primary school and
university settings, Tom brings to this project
an extensive understanding of the issues
surrounding professional practice in mathematics.
An invitation to participate
We invite all teachers of mathematics to
participate Phase One of the research
by undertaking the survey. It can be
found at:
www.griffith.edu.au/education/
socio-geographic-dimensionsmathematics-education/survey
The questionnaire takes around 20
minutes to complete and is confidential.
If you or your school would like to
participate in the study, please let us
know. The identities of schools and
participants will be protected but your
participation will be highly valued. We
will provide feedback to participants and
your contribution can help us all better
understand how best teaching practices
may be implemented to improve
numeracy outcomes for all students,
regardless of their socioeconomic or
geographic location.
Want to know more?
Please feel free to contact us:
Professor Robyn Jorgensen
Griffith University
Ph: (07) 3735 5876
Fax: (07) 3735 1806
Professor Tom Lowrie
Charles Sturt University
Ph: (02) 6933 4328
Fax: (02) 3933 2962
Email: sg-maths@griffith.edu.au
This is a joint venture between Griffith University and Charles Sturt University
and is funded by the Australian Research Council.