Teaching Students, Not Mathematics 2014

What makes for successful numeracy education in remote Indigenous contexts: An Teaching Students, not Mathematics ethnographic case Normanton State School study approach Normanton is a small cattle town located significance. The town boasts the longest, in the Gulf region of Queensland. The original operating Burns Philps store, region is tropical savannah with two very established in 1884. Other heritage- distinct seasons – a very humid wet season, listed buildings in the town include the followed by a rainless dry season. The area Normanton Railway Terminus, Westpac can become inaccessible in the wet season, Bank Building and the Normanton Gaol. with falls in excess of 650mm in one month. Situated in the centre of the town, next to the Shire Offices, is a replica of an 8.64m Normanton is the administrative centre Stories on remote saltwater crocodile – the largest ever taken for the Shire of Carpentaria, established indigenous – that was shot and killed in the Norman in 1867 when settlers relocated from River. The region is well known for its mathematics Burketown which was abandoned due to fishing, mostly barramundi and salmon. successes fever and flooding. More than 1,000 people compiled by live in the town of whom approximately 600 Normanton State School was established Professor are Indigenous Australians. Normanton’s in 1892. The school has many long Robyn Jorgensen population has fluctuated from 1,250 serving staff members, some of whom in 1891 due to a short-lived gold rush, have been there for more than 15 years. dropping to 234 in 1947. The current principal has been in the role for 10 years prior to which she served Like many other towns in the Gulf region, as a teacher at the school. The school Normanton has been part of the prawn proactively employs local Aboriginal industry but has recently become a popular people as Teacher Aides (TA) and for 2014 tourist destination. Its long history means other roles within the school. Some of the that there are many buildings of historical TAs have been at the school for as long as 30 years, “Putting Faces on the Data” approach (Sharratt and with many working there for eight or more years. Many Fullan) where data are used to inform teaching. teachers stay for longer than their initial contract while Located in a town rather than a community, Normanton others remain for shorter periods, having decided they State School has not received the same level of are unsuited to remote teaching. This makes for a funding as has been made available to community- core staff who have remained at the school for longer based schools. As a National Partnerships school, the periods than usual in remote locations, with a staff administrative team had focused on building human turnover of about five teachers leaving in any one year. capacity, with many support people allocated through The school’s core business is literacy and numeracy the funding. The school also focuses on providing so there is a strong commitment to these areas of support for its TAs, most of whom are Indigenous. education. More recently, the school has adopted the Defining success The school has achieved strong NAPLAN results when compared with similar schools, performing consistently across year levels for a four year period. Prioritising Students There is a strong expectation that teachers and TAs will responses meant that language had to be refined to the provide quality education for the students. As a “Partners appropriate mathematical terms. Throughout this process, for Success” School, the principal, who has had a very there was a constant need to refer to the multiplicative long tenure at the school, has enabled the school to process, which for many of the students, meant using the select (and retain) teachers who are willing to commit language of “times”. On each occasion that this term was to the culture of the school. High expectations apply as used, the teacher would look at his watch and say the much to staff as they do to students. Normanton has time. By doing so, he would consistently remind them that worked hard to build a culture whereby teachers, teacher the proper term is multiplication rather than times. aides and other staff are expected to do a “good day’s The teacher also used explicit referencing to the terms work for a good day’s pay”. Teachers remain on the job used for numbers – the base number, the power (and until they leave the school. As with many remote and other similar terms). Throughout the teaching episode very remote communities, students and families are there was constant revision of these terms so that he could circumspect about the “two-year bandits” who revolve be sure that students learned the terms and their usage. through the schools in remote areas but with the core For example, the extract below shows how the teacher teaching staff, considerable strength has been built in not only modelled the use of mathematical language but terms of curriculum, expectations, and relationships with also encouraged the students consistently throughout the the community. lesson: As a result of this commitment, teachers have built T: What is my base number going to be? a strong rapport with the students. Teachers and What is my index? teacher aides use a wide range of strategies to build mathematical understandings with the students. These T: Is this hard so far? strategies were articulated and observed within the No, this is pretty easy. practices of both teachers and teacher aides. Throughout Teachers and Teacher Aides recognised the importance all lessons observed at Normanton, teachers particularly of language and how the students needed to hear and emphasised the metalanguage of mathematics, and the learn appropriate mathematical terms and their meanings. importance of pacing and the use of humour to scaffold Language was constantly repeated so that students mathematical learning. could hear how it is used in context and the meanings that the words conveyed. In a Prep lesson students were Meta Language estimating and then measuring using informal units (teddy Modelling of the correct use of mathematical terms was bears) in order to work out which were heavier or lighter constantly emphasised in lessons. The approach taken than other items. The TA was constantly using the terms by the teachers was lighthearted so that the students ‘more’ and ‘less’ to compare estimates and whether these could engage with the demands of the language. For were larger or smaller than previous items. Across all example, in a lesson on exponential numbers, index lessons observed, teachers and TAs strongly emphasised laws were introduced. In the lesson, the students were the correct use and modelling of mathematical language. expanding notation of operations. In that process, Key words and definitions are also represented in written they were asked to articulate the expansion of 43 so form so that students can refer back to these if needed. they explained to the teacher that he needed to write Mathematical equations were written in a variety of 4 three times so he wrote 4x3 to which they said that formats, thus exposing the students to different symbolic was not right. The negotiation of their language with his representations. Pacing Consistency Lessons are fast paced. Teachers pose questions Consistency within and across lessons is a feature to the students to engage them with the content of of the mathematics lessons. By having consistency mathematics. The fast pace helps to keep the students of format across mathematics lessons, students are engaged and encourages a sense of automaticity that able to engage with the lessons rather than having in turn drives the pace of the lessons. Teachers pose to predict what is going to occur in any one lesson. questions briskly, engaging students with the banter. The students are familiar with the ways in which the The pacing remains focused and lighthearted. mathematics lessons will unfold and therefore what to expect when they engage with their mathematics Rapport lessons. It has been found that when there is inconsistency, students are potentially confused by the One of the challenges in many remote schools is the changes, so standard formats to mathematics lessons high turnover of mathematics teachers, particularly has enabled teachers and students to move through in the secondary school. Normanton has also content in a smooth process. The following features experienced this turnover in its secondary sector in are those that are common to mathematics lessons. the past few years. It has been felt by the leadership team that one of the key needs for teachers who are Fast Facts new to the school (and in mathematics) is to develop a strong rapport with the students. When teachers All maths lessons begin with a fast facts session. have been unable to develop this rapport, it has Here the teachers are able to use a variety of formats made for challenges in managing student behavior for presenting information that generally relate to the and optimizing engagement, learning and success. topics that the students are doing. For example, in The culture at Normanton values a strong respect some classes fast facts were simply mental maths of students and their families without compromising exercises that focused on operations. In others high expectations of learners and learning. Teachers teachers used a variety of formats to enable the are encouraged from their initial induction period students to see that mathematics can be represented and throughout their time at Normanton to develop a in different ways, for example: strong rapport with the students while maintaining a professional relationship with the students and their • 3 + 7 = ?; families. This focus has been a particular focus in the • 3 + = 10; area of mathematics in the secondary school sector.

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