There is some question over the inclusion of parents in early years swimming. Clearly in the young babies’ classes, this is a non-negotiable. But it may be worth considering when parents/adults should be taken out of classes. I suggest that for many parents, the idea o...

I have been thinking about my last blog and started to formulate some ideas as to what quality might look like.  What would a parent be advised to look for when starting the search for swimming lessons. Given that many parents can’t afford swimming lessons and then man...

I have had the pleasure to visit a baby swim school in Sweden as part of the pre-conference activities prior to the Nordic Baby Swim Conference. Of course one school does not represent the Swedish swim industry, but what I observed caused me to rethink some of the take...

Spatial reasoning is that which allows you to visualise three-dimensional objects in your mind and manipulate these images mentally. For example, someone with good spatial reasoning skills may be able to imagine how an object would look if it were rotated.

Spatial reaso...

At my recent presentation in Auckland (Sept 2016), at the opening of the Centre for Research in Mathematics Education, I argued that it is often easy to see what we don’t agree with but very difficult to challenge those practices that align with our beliefs and our fie...

People often ask about the Remote Numeracy Project and the research that has been undertaken for this project. I feel very blessed, lucky, and/or fortunate to have been able to conduct this research but without the support of the schools and systems, this research woul...

With many graduates commencing their careers in remote educational sites, there is an even more urgent need to support their induction into the profession.  Ma

Coming to school where the language of instruction is different from the home language of the students can be challenging for young learners. For many teachers in remote areas, their knowledge of the home language/s of their students is very limited so finding ways to...

Each year the University of Canberra hosts a Q&A session on hot topics that is open to the public. In 2016, a panel of educators/researchers discussed issues around performance in the area of STEM education.  The panel was chaired by Philip Clark and included (left to...

Across many remote schools, there is a high absenteeism later in the week. In part, this comes about through the families going into ‘town’ for shopping. Not wanting to miss out on the excitement of being in the town and what the booty might be from shopping, many stud...