Employers and maths education
Employers have a vested interest in maths education.
As routine tasks in the workplace are automated, roles and responsibilities at work will become more challenging. They will require skills in problem-solving, analysis, research, coding and algorithmics, managing data, statistics and so on. These skills are built on a strong foundation in maths and quantitative methods. To ensure young people are prepared for this future and ready for the workplace, employers need to engage in maths education and help shape the skills that students acquire.
There are a number of ways in which employers can work with AAMT to create a positive impact on maths education in Australia.
Support for maths teachers
Many maths teachers enter the teaching profession from university. They may not have career experience in industry or in other sectors and may not be familiar with mathematical and quantitative practices as used in workplace settings. However, the mathematical methods and applications that are used in industry and business may lend themselves well to education. For example, modelling, predicting, analysing data, financial work, coding and algorithmics all offer interesting and stimulating applications of mathematical techniques. If teachers had the opportunity to learn from mathematicians in the workplace and understand more about real world applications, they may be able to provide their students with a greater variety of engaging lessons.
If you are an employer and you would like to offer the opportunity for maths teachers to learn from your experts, we would very much like to hear from you. This may include, for example, offering work shadow opportunities, participating in workshops or webinars or joining a team to help us develop new education resources.
Please contact us to support the teaching of maths in schools.
Support for maths students
The learning of numeracy and mathematical skills at school has a strong focus on curriculum content and the development of strong skills or proficiencies in the content areas of the curriculum. A challenge for teachers is that students often don’t see the relevance of what they are learning. Learning maths can seem abstract and unrelated to the world outside the maths classroom.
Mathematicians in the workplace can help to dispel this mindset. They can contribute to the students’ understanding of why maths is important and how it is used outside the classroom. This can be done through visits to schools, participation in webinars and recording of video materials that we can make available to learners.
AAMT would very much value offers from anyone who may be experienced with maths and its applications outside the classroom and would like to help inspire school students in one of the most important subjects at school.
Focus on Maths
The Focus on Maths program aims to improve maths teaching in disadvantaged schools. Industry, business, government and community groups are invited to donate funds to the program. The funds that are collected are made available to support maths education projects is disadvantaged schools. Schools apply for funds on a competitive basis. For further information, see the Focus on Maths page.
Advisory Group
AAMT is always keen to hear from employers who may wish to contribute to maths education in schools in an advisory capacity. From time to time we organise meetings and forums to discuss how maths education can be made more reflective of ‘real world’ maths. We very much value the contributions from mathematicians in the workplace and in research, as well as employer representatives. If you are interested in working with AAMT in this way, please contact us.
