Principals’ Leadership Capability for Mathematics in STEM

Abstract: Leadership Content Knowledge (LCK) comprises school leaders’ knowledge of subject matter and beliefs about how that subject matter is learned. It influences their capacity to enact instructional leadership by guiding teachers and providing them with feedback on their teaching performance. A principal with strong mathematics LCK can support teachers to emphasise such things as mathematical reasoning and problem-solving and provide advice on how understanding of important mathematical ideas can be developed. Principals’ LCK also influences their decisions about hiring and resource allocation. In this this presentation I consider the nature of school principals’ LCK for mathematics, and how it relates to their LCK for other STEM subjects.

Mathematics

Audience: researchers in the discipline

Comments: Kim Beswick is a Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia where she is also Head of the School of Education and Director of the Gonski Institute for Education. Her research interests centre on the beliefs, knowledge, and professional development of teachers, including teachers of mathematics. She is particularly interested in how teachers’ beliefs and knowledge relate to their expectations of and aspirations for their students. She has published more than 110 peer-reviewed outputs, attracted over $16M in competitive research funding including an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship, 2015-2019, and been a member of the ARC College of Experts. Kim was a secondary school mathematics teacher for 13 years prior to joining the academy and served as the President of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers, 2012-2014. She has been a life member of that organisation since 2017.

ITB Mathematics Distinguished Lecture Series

Series comments: We aim to bring prominent mathematicians exploring the role of mathematics from various fields, in an intriguing style. The online lectures address quite broad audience, from mathematics students (advanced undergraduate to graduate ones), as well as mathematicians in Indonesia, and our neighboring countries, or even beyond our region. With this lecture series we hope to foster and promote research culture, as well as to highlight the prominent role of mathematics in shaping future society.