Mathematics and Statistics
Question
You are to extend your understanding of how culture and context impact on learning by providing a literature review on the topic of social justice for diversity (culture, multilingual communities, gender, SES) within mathematics education and apply it to your thinking about planning learning experiences. In other words, what advice does the literature provide regarding the teaching of mathematics given that difference is a real aspect of our classrooms and how can you put this into practice when teaching number in a Stage 2 or 3 classroom?
Your response should contain a review of the literature as it relates to teaching for social justice by reference to issues of diversity, including some or all of: gender, multilingual classes, culture and Indigenous identity. In your review, identify the key recommendations provided by the literature, substantiate these by reference to the literature and explain how these can be implemented in a practical way in a Stage 2 or 3 classroom. You should also refer to government syllabuses, advice on implementation, and policies. More specifically, describe actual teaching strategies/learning experiences that you could use to take account of social justice issues when teaching about number in Stage 2 or 3. Set out examples, that illustrate your points, as boxed or indented paragraphs embedded in your text. You may wish to call these Figures that you refer to in your text. For example they may be snippets of teacher-student interaction (key questions or suggestions and expected responses), resources, guidelines for problem solving, relationship building, approaches to assessment, and class-organising strategies.
Rationale
The purpose of the assessment is for students to develop a position on how children learn mathematics that will inform their future teaching. They will express their position through a review and synthesis of the literature around chosen topics in mathematics teaching and learning assisted by discussions about the literature with peers.
This assessment task links directly to the objectives for this subject. Students will be required to successfully demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the content of EMM 310 by:
• critically evaluating models of pedagogy for teaching and assessing mathematics;
• making explicit their understanding of the role and value of mathematics in the broader school curriculum
• demonstrating a broad and critical knowledge of Board of Studies syllabus and assessment requirements for primary mathematics; and
• explaining and interpreting the place of primary mathematics in the K-12 continuum of learning