Numeracy across the curriculum: recognising and responding to the demands and numeracy opportunities inherent in secondary teaching

The 1998 Report of the National Standards and Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education Project, \u27Preparing a Profession\u27 illustrates the emphasis being placed in Australia on the development of numeracy skills amongst not only primary but also secondary school pupils. This report demands that graduates of all initial teacher training courses should not only be numerate themselves, but should also understand the contribution of numeracy to education and daily life, and be able to identify and respond to pupils\u27 numeracy learning needs. This report and its implementation in Victoria through the \u27Guidelines for the Evaluation of Teacher Education Courses\u27 led to the introduction in 1999 of a compulsory unit \u27Numeracy across the curriculum\u27 for all Deakin University students in the final year of their secondary teacher training course. This paper discusses the nature of the current emphasis on numeracy. It also describes the rationale, development and delivery of the first year of the \u27Numeracy across the curriculum\u27 unit, provides a brief evaluation from the perspective of staff and students, and discusses what impact such teacher education programs might have on secondary schools\u27 approaches to numeracy.