Australia's Top 200 Mathematics Teachers go back to School at UNE

January 08, 2008

Some of Australia's finest mathematics teachers were welcomed to UNE on Monday, January 7, as they embarked on the inaugural Australian Government Summer School for Teachers of Mathematics.

The non-stop 10-day program includes two major presentations a day by top ranking speakers from the UK, New Zealand and Australia. Speakers represent relevant stakeholders, including academia, the teaching profession itself and industry, and will cover topics as diverse as the latest developments in neuroscience to discussions of assessment methods.

The 200 “high performing” teachers will also be engaged in daily workshops and tutorials.

Professor John Pegg, Project Director of the Mathematics and Science Summer Schools and Director of UNE’s National Centre of Science, Information and Communication Technology, and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR) said:

“The idea behind the Summer School is to have very experienced teachers work through the most recent information and techniques about learning mathematics in schools. This information is provided by international leaders in the field including many of the best speakers Australia has on offer.”

A feature of the summer school is its residential nature, with all the participants staying at UNE’s Duval College. In what is expected to be a boon to Armidale, the participants will also squeeze in time for a range of activities in Armidale and the region.

Participants will not only gain from the speakers’ insights, the extensive resource materials provided and the networking possibilities, but will also be eligible for advanced standing and partial credit towards postgraduate courses at universities as well as professional development accreditation.

The outstanding teachers from primary and secondary schools, in both the public and private sectors, come from every state and territory and were chosen through competitive government selection panels. Each participant will have the opportunity to obtain a $2000 grant for their school to set up programs stemming from the summer school experience. They will also have ongoing access to an online learning community that includes all those involved in the summer school.

The event comes to UNE after SiMERR won a competitive tender against many top Australian universities. SiMMERR also won the Australian Government Summer School for Teachers of Science tender, which will be conducted simultaneously at Flinders University in Adelaide. Both programs are part of a $100 million Commonwealth Government initiative to boost teaching and learning in maths, science, English, Australian history and literacy and numeracy.

Participants will also benefit from the variety of information gleaned by SiMERR itself, including the results of several recent research projects including last year’s ground-breaking national survey into the teaching of mathematics, information and communications technology and science in rural and regional areas.

In welcoming the outstanding teachers, UNE Vice-Chancellor and CEO Professor Alan Pettigrew, said that the enthusiasm of the staff at UNE was vital in securing the summer school and asked the participants to relay some of that enthusiasm to their students.

“You will have the opportunity to exchange views, make new friends and new networks, I encourage you to make the most of it,” Professor Pettigrew said.

Posted by Leon Braun at January 8, 2008 01:55 PM