Community, education and business working together to improve maths outcomes of Indigenous learners. (Story of the Logo). While this resource looks at an approach to mathematics through an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective, it will benefit the teacher and students in any classroom. Feb 7, 2014 - Explore persson3's board "Aboriginal Mathematics ", followed by 104 people on Pinterest. These stories – from the clusters, from educators, Aboriginal students, leaders and parents – tell their journeys, challenges, successes and will inspire educators.They are linked to the Cluster Findings and are also downloadable (PDF). These became known as 'tools'.

The stunning improvements in mathematics and literacy which developed for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students alike testify to the power of long-term PD programs with the same group of teachers.

The Make it Count project developed and used a range of resources to help various aspects of the work in the schools and clusters.

A story of success with the Aboriginal Task Kit from a school in central Sydney with a significant Aboriginal student population. This traditional Aboriginal counting system uses a base five or “one hand” number system.

I hope you enjoy these and perhaps find them useful.


Karen Palmer This resource supports teachers to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in the mathematics curriculum. From 1996 this kit was widely used across Australia and was also been used to support the learning of Native American students in the United States. Patterns With Nines, Tim Butterworth Auntie Joy from Tasmania, who worked as an assistant teacher in some INISSS classrooms, tells the story from her point of view. Working Mathematically with Infants ... A teacher in a remote Northern Territory school shows that a good task is the tip of an iceberg. Dear Doug, Resources include tools for collecting data, units of learning designed by our creative and innovative educators, and professional reading. Email: 11 December 2006 They give insights into creative and innovative ways of teaching mathematics that engages Indigenous - and non-Indigenous - learners. Nicholas Dale The reports below indicate that even though her students may be '...the most disadvantaged kids I have worked with', Ruth has been able to share her love of numbers and excite them to begin '...thinking mathematically'. The Geckos website provides an explanation of how to use the “one hand” number system. Interesting Maths Problems, Luke Swan, Braedyn James, Naleea Fewkes-Broadby (PDF file). Dominic Killalea
Ruth Lansdell / The first person to talk about connecting mathematics with Aboriginal knowledge was Dr M Yunupiŋu, who was the first Yolŋu principal at Yirrkala School, North East Arnhem land and more well known as the lead singer of the band Yothu Yindi. The comments have been grouped into sub-categories for ease of presentation. For four years from August 1998, the Aboriginal Education Unit, Tasmania, developed an on-going professional development program based around the Task Centre Kit for Indigenous Students. The resources developed by Make It Count will help schools working at the intersection of Indigenous education and mathematics education. Their reports illustrate a tight link between being thrilled by mathematics and wanting to use your literacy and technology skills to explain it to someone else. Their work over more than twelve months also developed new tasks that were added to the mainstream kit. Although the Aboriginal Kit cards are no longer available, the same investigations can be accessed through mainstream tasks. It is a teaching and learning resource, and a professional learning tool. Classroom experiences from Fregon Anangu School in the far northwest of South Australia as recorded in Teacher Scrapbooks. Make It Count is an initiative that has developed evidence based, responsive mathematics pedagogies and resources to improve the learning outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners across Australia. Their work will continue to support Indigenous students to successfully learn mathematics. Dominic Killalea A story of success with the Aboriginal Task Kit from a school in central Sydney with a significant Aboriginal student population. The kids at Moonah wanted to send you some more of their work. A Significant Episode is an event, or a small series of linked events, that has impacted on educators professionally and has helped develop or change the way they teach and think about teaching. 'Indigenous ownership' indicated by student-drawn borders added to the Aboriginal Kit cards is not present in mainstream tasks, however, all the other teaching craft features illustrated in the links below will support successful use of these tasks with Indigenous Students. Angela Booy It was enthusiastically repeated by the Queensland teachers who went a step further by hiring an Aboriginal artist to help the students develop their drawings. INISSS: An Elder's View Interesting Maths Problems, Luke Swan, Braedyn James, Naleea Fewkes-Broadby (PDF file) Karen Palmer A teacher in a remote Northern Territory school shows that a good task is the tip of an iceberg. See more ideas about Aboriginal, Indigenous education, Mathematics. and presentation of teaching and learning activities. Although the Aboriginal Kit cards are no longer available, the same investigations can be accessed through mainstream tasks. After a long teaching career, Ruth is sharing her experience as a tutor in the Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS) in Tasmania. Ruth

The Task Centre Kit for Aboriginal Students supported Indigenous learners across the country until December 2011 when it was discontinued. Several were found to be very useful and are available for you to use. Classroom experiences from Crossways Lutheran School Ceduna, South Australia. Nic comments: Many of my children are Aboriginal and, before introducing this initiative, were on the border of non-productive mathematical learning. Rachel Boyce Best wishes, Home We talked about what to send and then they told me what to write. Resources. The Twelve Days of Christmas, Luke Swan & Dylan Gow-Lapham Classroom experiences from Ernabella Anangu School, South Australia. Numbers were often used on message sticks to invite neighbouring clans to events. Make It Count is for educators working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners in mathematics education. Eight clusters of schools across regional and urban Australia participated in the project. These units of learning have been designed by teachers and Aboriginal educators (in schools with Aboriginal education officers). As principal, Dr Yunupiŋu set a vision that all students will have an education in both Yolŋu and Western Knowledge. Australian Aboriginal one-hand counting system. The following list provides resources, papers and articles supporting the work of Make It Count. The idea of bordering the cards with student drawings to add an Indigenous 'stamp' to the resource came from the first project. 'Indigenous ownership' indicated by student-drawn borders added to the Aboriginal Kit cards is not present in mainstream tasks, however, all the other teaching craft features illustrated in the links below will support successful use of these tasks with Indigenous Students. Aboriginal educators take First Steps Getting ready in numeracy Hands on activities I Hands on activities II Confidence grows How I look at maths Best pedagogy I barely had to say a word! Sphinx Album. The logo of the Mathematics Task Centre (and its antecedent, the Mathematics Task Centre Project) came from the work of two Indigenous students in the Queensland project who journeyed where no one had gone before in the solution of the Sphinx task.

Changes in the participant, colleagues and children at Winkie Primary School, Riverland, South Australia as a result of a six day professional development program. Make It Count is about a way of thinking – and a way of doing.. For today’s educators: The Math Catcher Outreach Program provides you with the opportunity to explore ways to demystify mathematics for your students through storytelling and hands-on activities. Meet Small Number: We engage Aboriginal learners in math and science through the use of First Nations imagery and storytelling. You are invited to contribute to this collected wisdom of practice. Throughout this period many teachers contributed to the wisdom that remains available in this section of Mathematics Centre. The following selection of comments from the teachers is representative of the comments made which were categorised under ‘teaching of mathematics’. Erin Sells