Hi, I'm Michaela.
I've been an educator for over a decade. During that time, I've taught in rural and urban schools, and worked with with primary and secondary teachers, school leaders, government, ed-tech start-ups and non-profits across Australia and internationally.
​
What I believe
​
-
Maths is fun, challenging and satisfying. Learning maths requires patience, persistence and careful thinking.
-
Success in learning mathematics means being confident about what has been learned and curious to learn more.
-
Most students have the capacity to learn complex ideas.
-
Formal education is one part of a student's learning journey and should provide the starting point for a desire to learn more
-
When we care about education, we develop strong opinions about what it should look like.
-
Being skeptical of ideas we're presented with, including our own opinions, opens up conversation and helps us to see the world in different ways.
​
What I do
After searching for ways to make professional learning more meaningful, in 2020, I founded Maths Teacher Circles in Australia. MTCs bring primary and secondary teachers together to actively do maths and talk teaching on a regular basis. MTCs are designed to support teachers to get excited again about teaching maths. To date, over 700 teachers from across Australia and overseas have attended MTC sessions.
​
In addition, I consult to schools and organisations on initiatives that support primary teachers, secondary teachers, graduate teachers, out-of-field teachers, maths leaders and specialist teachers.
​
More broadly, I'm currently diving into and working with educators on these questions:
-
What's needed for students to leave school curious and confident about maths?
-
How can we make it easier for great maths teaching ideas to be shared?
-
How can schools, universities and others in the education sector use research and data deliberately?
​
Outside of my work, I enjoy watching my young daughter learn and grow, playing competitive dominoes, learning about statistics and philosophy and going hiking.
​
This is what I've done
​
In recent years, I have focused on maths education from different perspectives. To this end, I have:
-
Taught mathematics and led teaching teams at schools in rural and urban areas
-
Designed and run professional development programs and worked closely with over 5,000 teachers in a coaching capacity
-
Designed and implemented specialised mathematics programs to support and extend students
-
Created original problems and puzzles for a range of organisations and publications
-
Led a team of learning and instructional designers, responsible for producing maths content for over 55,000 students
-
Served as President of the Mathematical Association of Victoria
-
Served on the boards of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers, the Mathematical Association of Victoria and the Australian committee of the International Mathematical Modelling Challenge
-
Spoken at conferences, researched and written about curriculum, pedagogy, effective teaching practices and cognitive development
-
Reviewed papers for the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia and for the Australian Council for Educational Research's Excellence in Professional Practice Conference.
​
I've also been featured on Maths Talk by AMSI Schools, the Fizzics Ed Podcast, Ignite EdTech Podcast and Toddcast Teacher Podcast.
Past clients and partners include:
-
Camberwell Girls' Grammar
-
Carey Baptist Grammar
-
BioLab, the Victorian BioScience Education Centre
-
EdPartnerships International
-
Heathmont College
-
Math4Love
-
Pivot Professional Learning
-
Stile Education
-
The Department of Education and Training Victoria
-
The Mathematical Association of Victoria
-
The Meet Pi Maths Festival
-
The Pavilion School
-
The Tutor Network
-
Urbis Consulting
​