Redressing mathematics education: Access to learning for students in Australian schools

The provision of new and innovative mathematics teaching ideas in primary and secondary classrooms in Australia is often insufficient for sustainable improvement in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and low SES students’ learning of mathematics The ideas struggle to have positive effects: 1) when low attendance and negative behaviour are endemic across a school, 2) when school practices and learning spaces disengage students, 3) when positive partnerships are not formed between teachers and their Indigenous teacher aides, 4) when classrooms do not involve community leaders or acknowledge local knowledge, and 5) when teachers do not believe that the students are capable of the work because of their socioeconomic status, their geographical location or parent education. Where ideas have been successful, they have been integrated into whole-school changes that challenge attendance and behaviour, integrate and legitimise local community knowledge, build in practices to support the culture of the students, and change teacher attitudes towards and relationships with the students. Whilst there are small successes, gaps remain.