Associate Professor Allan Leslie White

 Associate Professor Allan White

Associate Professor Allan White is an Associate Professor in Mathematics Education for the School of Education, University of Western Sydney, and a memeber of the Centre for Positive Psychology and Education. He has a long history of working throughout Australia and South East Asia in the areas of mathematics education, research, teacher professional development and the use of ICTs.

He currently works with pre-service undergraduate and postgraduate primary and secondary school teachers. Before working in the tertiary sector, he taught for over twenty years in primary and secondary classrooms in three Australian states. At different times he has held the positions of school Principal, Head of Mathematics, Head of Mathematics and Science, Director of Boarding and he has worked in schools for intellectually handicapped and emotionally disturbed students.

His research interests are concentrated into four areas: teacher action theories involving the complex relationships between beliefs, attitudes, intentions, values and behaviour; teacher professional learning and its evaluation, with a focus on Lesson Study; the teaching and learning of school mathematics with a focus on both primary and secondary levels; and the last, involves the integration of ICT into the curriculum with particular focus on graphics calculators.

Dr White’s PhD research explored the influences acting upon teacher behaviour and learning and has the potential to assist classroom teachers articulate their current classroom practices and values. Teacher action theories involve attitudes, beliefs, values, intentions, behaviours and emotions.

In 2002 Dr White evaluated the NSW implementation Lesson Study for the NSW DET. He was the invited keynote speaker for the formation of a Lesson Study group in Malaysia. He is a member of the world Lesson Study group, published both nationally and internationally, and recently co-authored a chapter on teacher education research for MERGA. In 2004 he was the principal researcher for the evaluation of the primary school AMIC program in Brunei. He is the coordinator of the Overseas Professional Experience Program which is another avenue of research.

Dr White’s focus on classroom curriculum arises from teacher professional learning. Allan has conducted a number of research and consultancy projects, such as the Numeracy in Primary Schools Project (NSW DET, NSW CEO, & AIS), the Priority Action Schools Project. Currently he is working for AusAid/ NSW Global Education and has completed an evaluation of the numeracy program Counting On 2007 and Counting On 2008 for NSW DET.

Dr White is also interested in the pedagogical strategies needed to integrate ICT into the classroom with a particular focus on mathematics and the use of spreadsheets and graphics calculators. He presents regularly at Australian teacher conferences delivering a keynote address at the Annual Conference of the Victorian Association of Mathematics.

Areas of Research/Teaching Expertise

Primary mathematics teaching and learning; secondary mathematics teaching and learning; teacher action theories; integration of ICT into the mathematics curriculum; teacher professional learning; evaluation research;

Qualifications

DipT (Sydney Teachers), BA (Macquarie), MEd (UNSW), GradDipEd (SAColl), PhD (Sydney)

Grants/Current Projects

  • Evaluation of Counting On 2008 Program NSW DET
  • Mathematics Teachers Guide to Global Education Site - AusAid
  • Evaluation of Counting On 2007 Program NSW DET
  • Global Education Project - New South Wales AusAid
  • SEAMEO - Australia Project - ICT in Maths and Science UNESCO
  • Evaluation of AMIC program - Ministry of Education Brunei Darussalam
  • SEQ1 Project between Office of Basic Education Commission Thailand and RECSAM Malaysia. UNESCO/SEAMEO
  • Priority Action Schools Project NSW DET
  • Lesson Study Evaluation - NSW DET
  • Primary Numeracy Project - NSW DET, CEO, AIS

Awards and Recognition

Outstanding Professional Service - NSW Professional Teachers Council (2005)

M.A.C.E. - Australian College of Education (2002)

G.Aust.M.S. - Australian Mathematics Society (1997)

Selected Publications
Book Chapters

White, A.L. (2008) Review of learning of mathematics in the middle years 2004-07. In H. Forgasz, A. Barkatsas, A. Bishop, B. Clarke, S. Keast, W.T. Seah, P. Sullivan & S. Willis, Research in mathematics education in Australasia 2004 - 2007. The Netherlands Sense Publishers.

White, A.L. (2007) Assessment in school mathematics. In N. Idris (Ed) Classroom assessment in mathematics education. Shah Alam, Selangor: McGraw-Hill.

White, A.L. (2006) Graphics calculators and modelling in the secondary mathematics classrooms. In J. Suffolk (Ed) Science, Mathematics and Technical Educations 19. Brunei: Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

White, A.L. (2005) Technology Improving the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics : From Theory and Research to Practice. In P. Singh & C.S. Lim (Eds) Improving teaching and learning of mathematics: From theory/research to practice. Shah Alam, Selangor: Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).

Southwell, B., White, A.L. & Klein, M. (2004) Learning to teach mathematics. In B. Perry, G. Anthony & C. Diezmann (Eds) Research in mathematics education in Australasia 2000 - 2003. Flaxton, QLD: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia.

Journal Articles

Ly, S.B. & White, A.L. (2008) Interactive, self-paced, self-correcting mathematics spreadsheets: Boost students' mathematics learning. Reflections, 33(1), 18-22.

White, A.L. & Lim, C.S. (2008) Lesson study in Asia Pacific classrooms: Local responses to a global movement. ZDM The International Journal of Mathematics Education.

White, A.L. (2008) NSW global education and the middle school classroom. Reflections, 33(1), 9-12.

White, A.L. & Singh, P. (2007) Linking thinking: Mathematical modelling an ideal tool. Reflections, 32(1), 69-73.

White, A.L. (2007) Student spreadsheets in the middle-school mathematics classroom: Why should the teacher have all the fun? Reflections, 32(1), 60-3.

White, A.L. (2007) An Australian Mathematics Educator in South East Asia: Globalization has Virtually Changed Everything. Transnational Curriculum Inquiry, 4(1), 42-53.

White, A.L. (2007) Two Related Approaches to Teacher Professional Learning in the Asia Pacific Region. Journal of Science and Mathematics in Southeast Asia, 30(1), 67-83.

White, A.L., Way, J., Perry, B. & Southwell, B. (2006) Mathematical attitudes, beliefs and achievement in pre-service mathematics teacher education. Mathematics Teacher Education & Development, 7, 33-52.

Singh, P. & White, A.L. (2006) Unpacking first year university students' mathematical content knowledge through problem solving. Asian Journal of University Education, 1(March), 33-56.

White, A.L. (2006) Graphics calculators and modelling in the secondary mathematics classrooms. Science. Mathematics and Technical Educations, 19, 34-41

White, A.L. (2005) What do graphics calculators and pedagogical change in the secondary mathematics classroom have in common? International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 1(3), 3-10.

Contact

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