Embedding Numeracy across Secondary Disciplines

With a focus on numeracy theories and pedagogical approaches, this 4 month program will help secondary educators to strengthen numeracy outcomes through a whole school approach. Improving numeracy is of critical importance, and this program will provide structures and plans to improve numeracy.

Through this program you will learn to foster collaborative strategic planning and professional learning to build leadership, numeracy well-being, expertise and sustainable networks for numeracy learning within and across secondary schools. You will be empowered to enable or support statewide alignment by leveraging current Department of Education (DE) strategy, and specialised interventions, tools, and resources.

Numeracy improvement as a whole school focus can be achieved through schools’ annual implementation plans. This course will provide the tools, knowledge, and skills to design and implement effective numeracy improvement goals and key improvement strategies. Statewide testing such as the GAT aim to indicate student readiness for further education, training and employment, and this course aims to address readiness strategies to prepare students for success. You will gain an enhanced understanding of the overall numeracy capabilities of schools, promote numeracy related teaching excellence and improve overall student and school outcomes.

Audience

Designed for teachers and teacher leaders in Victorian government secondary schools. Participants could include:

• numeracy leaders
• learning specialists
• numeracy coordinators
• curriculum development leaders with responsibility for influencing numeracy improvement
• principals
• assistant principals
• school leaders
• maths and non-maths specialists
• teachers both maths and other disciplines.

Regional improvement staff including education improvement leaders, professional learning community managers, student achievement managers and members of the differentiated school support initiative are also encouraged to apply. Teams are also encouraged to apply.

Facilitators

Designed by the University of Melbourne this course is facilitated by: 

• Justine Sakurai, Project Lead, Design Lead, Facilitation and Coaching  
• Wee Tiong Seah, Oversight and Facilitation, Professor Mathematics Education  
• Julia Hill, Design, Facilitation and Coaching 
• Dave Tout, Design, Facilitation and Coaching.

Structure of program

Over 4 months, you will actively engage and contribute to: 

• pre-session self-paced (1 hour)
• 5 blended workshops consisting of:​
  • Workshop 1 - Face to Face (6 hours)
  • Workshops 2 to 4 - Online (3 workshops of 2 hours = 6 hours)​
  • Workshop 5 - Face to Face (6 hours) ​
• asynchronous learning resources and activities 
• virtual coaching support (1 hour)
• self-paced learning and yarning circles (approximately 6 hours).

Micro Lessons and facilitated discussion including: 

• provocations and reflections to challenge practice 
• resources to stimulate new learning including video, readings, links and opportunities for reflection and practice. 

Online/face to face workshops including: 

• guest presenters, facilitator-led discussions 
• opportunities for small group breakout and peer review and feedback. 

Applied Learning Project consisting of: 

• opportunities to articulate and apply new knowledge with peers  
• guided testing and application of impact assessment 
• opportunities to share and demonstrate learnings and impact with peers 
• opportunities for personalised facilitator verbal and written feedback. 

Learning outcomes

By engaging in the ENASD program, participants will gain knowledge and understanding of the following: 

• tools, knowledge, and skills to design and implement effective numeracy improvement goals and key improvement strategies linked to schools annual implementation plans
• the leadership professional practices, capabilities and dispositions as they relate to specialist numeracy leadership in schools
• teaching and learning theories and practices to support strong research based numeracy approaches in schools
• strategies and practices that develop strong positive well-being in numeracy learners and self-empowered numeracy learners
• effective connections between mathematics and numeracy
• whole school approaches to promote student success across the curriculum and in statewide testing
• effective numeracy content and assessment procedures and models
• features of high-quality professional learning and development which link to the school’s Annual Implementation Plan.

Fees and financial support

Fully subsidised by the Department of Education for Victorian government school participants.