SCU offers new course to teach non-maths teachers to teach maths

Southern Cross University is tackling Australia’s maths teacher shortage with a new course to teach non-maths teachers to teach maths.

Teachers not trained in maths are being asked to take maths classes because of shortages.

Southern Cross University is tackling Australia’s maths teacher shortage head on with a new microcredential designed for non-maths teachers to learn to teach maths.

Next year it will launch an online Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Mathematics for Out-Of-Field Teachers which is aimed to increase the skills and the confidence of teachers who lack formal maths teaching qualifications but are called upon to take maths classes.

David Lynch, a professor of education at Southern Cross University, said maths qualified teachers were in very short supply, especially in regional and rural Australia, and teachers from other disciplines were being asked to teach maths without proper training or support.

He said that out-of-field maths teaching was now a chronic issue in most secondary and primary schools and affected Australia’s capacity to produce school graduates who were well-qualified in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).

“We are thrilled Southern Cross University has been awarded a microcredential grant from the

federal government to take the lead in solving the out-of-field mathematics teaching problem,” he said.

Professor Lynch said that the postgraduate certificate would not only give teachers maths teaching skills, but would also improve the way maths was taught.

“We aim to shake-up the profession,” he said.

There was an absence of support networks around professional learning and mentoring for out-of-field maths teachers, Professor Lynch said. “Our microcredential will address these gaps.”

The maths microcredential is one of 28 short courses recently funded by the federal government in areas of national importance.

The Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Mathematics for Out-Of-Field Teachers is expected to be available online through Southern Cross University from term 1 (March intake), 2024.