Surveying the technology landscape: Teachers' use of technology in secondary mathematics classrooms

For many years, education researchers excited by the potential for digital technologies to transform mathematics teaching and learning have predicted that these technologies would become rapidly integrated into every level of education. However, recent international research shows that technology still plays a marginal role in mathematics classrooms. These trends deserve investigation in the Australian context, where over the past 10 years secondary school mathematics curricula have been revised to allow or require use of digital technologies in learning and assessment tasks. This article reports on a survey of mathematics teachers' use of computers, graphics calculators, and the Internet in Queensland secondary schools, and examines relationships between use and teachers' pedagogical knowledge and beliefs, access to technology, and professional development opportunities. Although access to all forms of technology was a significant factor related to use, teacher beliefs and participation in professional development were also influential. Teachers wanted professional development that modelled planning and pedagogy so they could meaningfully integrate technology into their lessons in ways that help students learn mathematical concepts. The findings have implications not only for resourcing of schools, but also for designing professional development that engages teachers with technology in their local professional contexts. [Author abstract

Ethics and the challenges for inclusive Mathematics teaching

“Ethical understanding” has been included as one of seven general capabilities that teachers are charged to incorporate in their teaching across all subject areas within an inclusive Australian Curriculum. In this chapter, we explore the dilemmas and challenges this will present to teachers of mathematics. We draw on ideas from psychology and philosophy to argue that moral development is not simply an internal, automatic process, nor is it a by-product of general intellectual development. Successful moral development only occurs under particular conditions. We demonstrate how selected contexts associated with some mathematical concepts, and the social issues related to them (e.g., economics, sustainability, and equity), are value-laden and ethically problematic. If all students are to develop the capacities for moral reasoning and informed decision-making, and apply them in relevant contexts, we argue that teachers must create and actively foster learning experiences which stimulate ethical inquiry and discussion in contextualised mathematical problems

A critical orientation to numeracy across the curriculum

Numeracy is a fundamental component of the Australian Curriculum as a General Capability in each subject. Here, we report on an aspect of a larger project that aims to provide insight into how teachers can assist their students to develop a critical orientation to life-related situations through a cross-curricular approach to numeracy. Specifically, we draw on data collected via lesson observations and semi-structured teacher interviews exploring the use of mathematics in a critical fashion within the teaching of two subjects outside of mathematics—English and social education. Our investigation revealed that attention to the details of a rich model of numeracy can support the framing of such activities but that time, experience, and initial intent for the learning activity are factors which shape the effectiveness of teachers as designers of such tasks, especially in relation to a critical orientation to numeracy