Linking powerful mathematical ideas and developmental learning outcomes in early childhood mathematics

In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the expectations of the mathematical performance of Australian children in their first year of school. Partly, this has been the result of Australasian research emanating from large systemic early childhood numeracy projects. One result of this increase in expectations for the first year of school has been a subsequent change in the expectations held by teachers and parents of children’s mathematical learning in prior-to-school settings and a consequent formalisation of mathematical teaching practices in many of these settings. This paper reports work done with preschool educators as part of the Southern Numeracy Initiative in South Australia in which the educators sought an alternative to the push for further formalisation. The results include the identification of ‘powerful ideas ’ in mathematics, the linking of these to the Developmental Learning Outcomes in the mandated South Australian curriculum documents through pedagogical enquiry questions within a numeracy matrix and how learning stories (narrative assessment) could be used to provide an assessment regime capable of celebrating mathematical learning while remaining compatible with key principles of preschool education. In particular, this paper considers the development and use of the numeracy matrix. Over the last decade, mathematics education in the first years of Australasian primary schools has been characterised by systemic programs such as Count Me In Too (Bobis & Gould, 2000), Early Numeracy Research Program (Clarke & Clarke, 2004), First Step