This book draws on both in and out of school literacy practices with teachers and families to enhance the numeracy of early learners. It provides highly illustrative exemplars, targeted for learners up to approximately eight years of age whose home language differs from the language of instruction. It identifies the challenges faced by these learners and their families, and shares ways of building both literacy and numeracy skills for some of the vulnerable learners nationally and internationally.
The book shares the outcomes and strategies for teaching mathematics to early years learners and highlights the importance of literacy practices for learners for whom the language of instruction is different from their home language. Readers will gain a practical sense of how to create contexts, classrooms and practices to scaffold these learners to build robust understandings of mathematics.
Robyn Jorgensen(Zevenbergen) is Emeritus Professor at the University of Canberra. She has been researching equity in mathematics since commencing her career. She has worked with low SES, rural and more recently with Indigenous communities. She seeks to understand the practices that contribute to the marginalization of learners and to bring about changes in those practices. She has recently completed a large national study on successful numeracy practices in remote Indigenous communities. She has a very strong publication record and has been the recipient of 13 Australian Research Council grants. She was the Editor-in-Chief for the Mathematics Education Research Journal and is on a number of Editorial boards for internationally renowned journals.
Mellony Graven is a full Professor at Rhodes University and holds the South African Numeracy Chair (SANC). Her research team includes several masters, doctoral and post-doctoral students. Her SANC project runs multiple programs with teachers, learners, teacher advisors and communities. She is the past president of the Southern African Association of Mathematics Science and Technology Education (2012-2014) and founding editor of the journal Learning and Teaching Mathematics. She is on the editorial board of the journals: Educational Studies in Mathematics (ESM); For the Learning of Mathematics; Mathematics Education Research Journal and Mathematics Teacher Education and Development. She has served as guest editor for special issues of several journals including ESM and ZDM. Mellony’s passion and work focuses on the creation of a hub of mathematical activity, passion and innovation that blends teacher and learner numeracy development with research focused on searching for sustainable ways forward to the challenges of mathematics education.
