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Ways Forward - Teacher support and the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics (2010)
On 31 May and 1 June 2010, the AAMT convened an invitation-only conference involving 115 leaders in mathematics education from around the country. The Ways Forward conference addressed the question: “How should the national uptake of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics be supported?”
Conference delegates considered the curriculum resources, professional learning and structural support that will be needed if the potential of a common curriculum for all Australian students is to be realised. The findings from the conference are intended to inform the wide range of stakeholders including the AAMT itself, teachers and schools, education authorities, universities and others, and to provide a framework for action.
The Communiqué
The Communiqué from the Ways Forward – Teacher support and the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics Conference is the major outcome from the conference. It is the AAMT’s action plan to help ensure teachers and schools have the support they need to effectively implement the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics.
You can download a copy of the Communiqué; email feedback@aamt.edu.au if you have any comments or queries.
The recommendations
The Communiqué contains twelve recommendations. The first five are sub-titled influencing others. These are matters on which the AAMT will advocate for certain actions that will support the uptake and effective use of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics. The other seven recommendations are actions that the AAMT will take. They will see the AAMT taking a collaborative approach in crucial areas such as teacher professional learning, resources, early childhood mathematics and assessment and more. Working with the Affiliated Associations in the states and territories is explicitly mentioned in many of these – the active involvement of all members of the AAMT in the actions that flow from this will be crucial to our success.
The recommendations are, of course, merely the tip of the iceberg. Sitting behind each of them is the detail of the discussions at the conference itself – argument and rationale, specific foci for professional learning, benefits of different ways of providing resources etc. Through the Ways Forward Conference the AAMT has been able to capture the best advice available around the support needs of teachers and schools. The recommendations will help start the process; the detailed advice and suggestions will help fill in the detail of what is done.
What next
The development and release of this Communiqué is a landmark achievement for AAMT. It has the potential to galvanise efforts and provide the support needed for teachers and schools to fully realise the potential provided by the advent of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics.
But the Communiqué is really only the beginning! Members and others will have opportunities to engage with the range of initiatives that will flow from the Communiqué as the AAMT work to ensure teachers are supported in their efforts to effectively implement the new Australian Curriculum: Mathematics.
Email feedback@aamt.edu.au with your comments or queries. The AAMT Executive would be particularly interested in hearing your ideas for turning the recommendations in the Communiqué into actions!
