ERIC Number: EJ1049942
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Feb
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1386-4416
EISSN: N/A
Changing the Teaching of Mathematics for Improved Indigenous Education in a Rural Australian City
Owens, Kay
Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, v18 n1 p53-78 Feb 2015
Transforming teachers and their approach to teaching Indigenous students requires partnerships with the Indigenous community, planning, small steps, and funds. This article illustrates how teachers can change when funds are available to assist schools and communities to implement appropriate and effective professional development, to establish partnerships between school and community, to revise teaching approaches and curriculum, and to value family and Aboriginal cultural heritage. The larger study involved four schools in a Stronger Smarter Learning Community in a small rural city, the whole city community, and the interaction among the schools. Interviews with principals, teachers, Aboriginal students, and their community highlighted the increasing interaction between the Aboriginal community and the schools, the increasing warmth and welcome extended both ways, and the impact that these approaches are having on curriculum, teaching, and learning. This article presents the impact in one of the schools involved in the mathematics project. The findings illustrate how the projects facilitated changing teachers' perceptions, skills, and practices and implemented curriculum, and resulted in a culturally responsive, place-based mathematics education.
Descriptors: Indigenous Populations, Teaching Methods, Culturally Relevant Education, School Community Relationship, Rural Areas, Rural Schools, Interviews, Principals, Administrator Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes, Student Attitudes, Mathematics Instruction, Program Effectiveness, Partnerships in Education, Teaching Skills, Curriculum, Place Based Education, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A