Summer 2004

Talking Maths

Numeracy in a Global World and Vice Versa

Asia Counts co-author, JAN KIERNAN, gives an overview of how a transdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning can expand students’ horizons and encourage global citizenship. Teachers on the lookout for mathematics exercises based in real life will find ideas and inspiration here.

In the 21st century educators need to help learners engage with and respond to the demands of a globalised, fast-changing world. They must develop in learners the understanding, skills and dispositions necessary for active and responsible citizenship in local, regional and world communities.

The big questions for all teachers are:

• What significant subject matter and issues will students need to undertake investigations as active inquirers?
• How can stereotyping be avoided and accurate comparisons made?
• What methodologies and pedagogies will provide the scaffolding to develop in students a deeper understanding of the regional and worldwide environment that Australia interacts with?

Then there are the age-old pleas:

• Where can we find up-to-date dynamic resources that assist students to develop skills in acquiring authentic and culturally respectful sources of information?
• Where are the sources that will develop in students the capacity to interact critically with a range of texts produced in complex and diverse ways?

And above all, there is the need to support this process with careful scrutiny to see that the investigation and resources are aligned with the Studies of Asia and Global Perspectives curriculum emphases. In particular, we need to focus students on:

• Challenging stereotypes
• Developing concepts of Asia
• Closer Australia-Asia relationships
• Contemporary issues
• Concepts about identity and cultural diversity, social justice and human rights
• Sustainable futures.

Ways of knowing

To achieve these ends, the Asia Counts texts look at ways teachers can assist students to gather and interpret information thoughtfully through drawing on ‘ways of knowing’ through numeracy—employing understandings, skills, intuition and experience gleaned from mathematics to add rigour and deeper understanding of global environments. At the same time, rich real-life data analyses embedded in this approach require students to develop skills of acquiring, processing and transforming contemporary and authentic sources of information from multimedia communications.

Learning experiences using this approach assist in developing in students an appreciation of the importance of mathematics and contemporary data in inquiries focussed on the way societies function and how numeracy can help them to make well-founded, informed decisions and reflective judgements. This ‘discipline mix’ produces learning sequences that explore Asia in geographical, historical, cultural and economic ways of knowing, while employing the effective use of mathematical concepts and skills.

An approach to planning and teaching

Teachers purposely using this way of planning can assist students to operate with increased numeracy proficiency acquiring knowledge, the disposition to act mathematically and the confidence and intuition to apply mathematical principles. As students use their numeracy capacities to interrogate real-life data presented in numerical and graphical form, they increase their ability to interpret information thoughtfully and accurately, and to assess its perspective and authenticity. They become critical users and presenters of data shown as graphs, tables, charts, maps, timelines, etc.

Big ideas and questions can be explored and authentic comparisons made when students work using this transdisciplinary approach to learning.

For instance, when focussing on the recent Olympic Games in Athens, a number of guiding questions requiring the accessing of current data and mathematical ‘ways of knowing’ could provide powerful ways of looking at countries, peoples, cultures, societies, economies, values and organisations.

Analysing

• Why do some countries send big teams to the Olympics and some don’t?
• Does this disparity reflect indicators such as population size, GDP, urbanisation, life expectancy and/or health statistics?
• Why is China becoming a greater force in terms of success at the Olympics?
• Why are some countries more successful in terms of medals won?
• Why do some countries excel at some sports and others don’t?
• What gender considerations are reflected in the composition of some teams?

Gathering

Then there are questions about:

• How much do countries spend on training for elite athletes?
• Why was it so hot in Athens?
• Why were so many of the sports held during the late evening and night Australian time? Will this be the same in 2008?

Synthesising

Inquiries using real-life data allow students to explore meaningful questions of global concern. For example:

• If the projected increase in India’s population in the 25 years 2000–25 is 348,102,000, what does this mean in terms of population density? What are the implications for India and the world? Why does a population increase automatically mean an increase in population density? Will this population growth be evenly spread between rural and urban areas?
• In Australia and many of the countries of Asia, urban drift is a concern for planners. For instance, in 1999, Tokyo was home to 34.5 million people. If the estimated population of Japan is expected to decline from 126,434,000 in 2000 to 119,865,000 in 2025, what are the implications for Tokyo? Will it decline too? Will the decline be in the rural areas or urban areas or in both?
• In 1999, the population of Melbourne was approximately 3.3 million. At the same time Tokyo was 34.5 million. Approximately how many times bigger is Tokyo than Melbourne?
• Which city in Asia is closest to your home? Estimate the distance. Compare your estimate with those of other students and explain how you arrived at your estimate.
• If it is midday in Tasmania, what is the time in New Delhi and in New York?
• Why do you think many US companies have a second computer base in India? How would this assist their planning and operation?
• What would be the best time to travel to Ho Chi Minh City for a holiday? What clothes would you need to take? What currency would you take? How many dong would you get for your dollar? What is the cost in Australian dollars of internal travel, accommodation, food and entertainment in Vietnam?
• The Murray River in Australia is 3717 kilometres in length. What major rivers are located in countries of Asia? Do the countries and peoples of Asia use their riverine resources in the same way that Australia uses the resources of its river systems? What is the global impact of the way countries use and share their riverine resources?

Resources for courses

Answers to many of these questions cannot easily be found in regular texts, if at all. However, there is a wealth of information readily accessible on the Internet and the data on the best sites is regularly updated.

The advantage of this approach to planning what to teach about Asia and global environments in general, is that it encourages conceptual development and higher-order thinking skills, invokes the inquiry processes of the social sciences disciplines to nominated investigations, and the strength of mathematical ‘ways of knowing’—gathering, analysing, synthesising and evaluating the real data made available through an interrogation of ICT resources. It also provides models for how students can present their own data in meaningful, attractive and purposeful ways. Above all, this approach encourages students to look at a range of sources and perspectives, and to develop habits of mind that will lead them to be active, questioning global citizens.

References

(2002). Global Perspectives: A Statement on Global Education for Australian Schools, Curriculum Corporation, Carlton South.

Kiernan, J & Reeves, H (2001). Asia Counts Primary: Numeracy and Studies of Asia, Curriculum Corporation, Carlton South.

Kiernan, J & Reeves, H (2001). Asia Counts Secondary: Numeracy and Studies of Asia, Curriculum Corporation, Carlton South.

Russell, M (2000). Studies of Asia: A Statement for Australian Schools, Curriculum Corporation, Carlton South.

Jan Kiernan is state advisor in Tasmania for the Asia Education Foundation.

The author owns the copyright in this article. For information related to the reuse of this work in any form please contact the publisher denise.quinn@curriculum.edu.au