The Guardian has reported on Australia’s long-term declining global mathematics rankings and the proposed national curriculum, including commentary from AMSI Director, Professor Tim Marchant.
Journalist, Donna Lu, reports that earlier this month, Australia’s eduction ministers met to discuss the proposed curriculum and almost reached a consensus. While most of the state and territories were happy with the latest revisions, the federal and Western Australian education ministers held out.
Acting minister for education and youth, Stuart Robert said, “The standards in mathematics and humanities and social sciences – they aren’t there yet… We’d like to see mastery of mathematics for students to understand maths … not just an inquiry approach.”
AMSI Director, Professor Tim Marchant, said both approaches [inquiry-led learning and explicit teaching] are useful. “Having a balance there between those two different approaches is important in the classroom… well-trained teachers can find that right balance.”
“Our position is still that we would still like a fresh start and that the new curriculum be prepared with consultation from all parties in the sector,” Professor Marchant said.
Read more on The Guardian.
