Forging New Opportunities for Problem Solving in Australian Mathematics Classrooms through the First National Mathematics Curriculum

Abstract

Although the Federal government in Australia has tried on previous occasions to exert a greater influence on curriculum development, curriculum development was the responsibility of each of the eight states and territories until quite recently. The new Labour Government in 2007 has employed increased central control and accountability measures, with national testing in grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 from 2008, publication of school results on a MySchool website, and the development of the first national curriculum in English, Mathematics, Science and History. States are still responsible for implementation, but the new funding model means they must comply with national curriculum implementation up to grade 10. Developing the first national curriculum for mathematics has been a challenge, but a plan of mathematics learning for each grade level organised into three content strands has now been developed. In addition, four proficiency (or process) strands describe the actions associated with doing mathematics. Since problem solving has been a key component of previous curriculum documents and there is evidence of limited use of complex problem solving in some Australian mathematics classrooms, the representation of problem solving in curriculum documents is examined in this chapter to explore whether the new national curriculum for Australia forges new opportunities for teachers and students.KeywordsNational curriculumHistorical perspectivesProblem solvingProficienciesTeacher interpretationAuthentic problems