Inclusive Mathematics Education - research group

We are engaged in research to inform schools and systems on ways they can address the serious challenges they are confronting in the mathematical education of students. On one hand, there are significant numbers of disengaged students, posing threats to the notion of Australia as an equitable society in which all students have opportunity to achieve their potential. The students most at risk of underachieving are from particular socio-economic and/or cultural groups, including Indigenous students. On the other hand, there is a serious decline in number of students entering university level mathematics courses, threatening international competitiveness and innovation, creating an imperative for greater engagement with mathematical thinking especially in schools. In addition, since over 80% of final year secondary students in Australia study mathematics, the effective teaching of mathematics at all levels is a key to educational opportunity and to international competitiveness.

A major research theme, to which all members of the node contribute, is associated with values, equity and student self regulation. The values dimension relates to beliefs and attitudes, and represents what is considered to be true and important by a person. The equity dimension addresses factors that can enhance or inhibit opportunities such as socio-economic status, geography, cultural background, gender, and disability. The self-regulation dimension refers to the extent to which students can make active decisions that influence the ways they enact their values in the mathematics learning. This program recognises that learning and teaching mathematics involves more than effective manipulation of cognitive processes, and that creativity, connecting mathematics to lived experience, and the social and cultural context and self goals determine educational outcomes. The focus of the node will include the education of prospective and practising teachers, and the study of classroom and community factors inhibiting effective mathematics learning by all students.

Group members

Asterisk (*) denotes accredited supervisors.

• Peter Sullivan* (leader)
• Tasos Barkatsas*
• Alan Bishop*
• Barbara Clarke*
• Helen Forgasz*
• Gilah Leder*
• Wee Tiong Seah*

Contact

Professor Peter Sullivan
Professor
Ph: +61 3 990 55924
Peter.Sullivan@education.monash.edu.au

Ms Rondinne Hills
Administrative Officer, Research
Ph: +61 3 990 52814
Rondinne.Hills@education.monash.edu.au