
Supporting Disadvantaged Students: Lessons From Liljedahl’s Work
From Strength In Numbers by Allan Dougan
December 8, 2025 · 32 min · Season 4 · Episode 5
About this episode
The episode discusses challenges and strategies in teaching disadvantaged students, focusing on lessons from Peter Liljedahl's work.
Challenges teaching at a culturally diverse and economically disadvantaged school, building an action plan, gathering quality data, and overcoming the language barrier with a universal language: mathematics. Dandenong Primary’s Assistant Principal, Terri Truscott, and AAMT’s Education Specialist, Denise Halliday, explore lessons learned in the process of implementing concepts from Peter Liljedahl’s fantastic ‘Building Thinking Classrooms’, metacognition, inspiring rich mathematics dialogue, using pre- and post-assessments, selectively responding to student questions, and more. Key Links: Check out Dandenong Primary School: https://www.dandenongps.vic.edu.au/ Contact Terri Truscott: Terri.Truscott@education.vic.gov.au See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
People in this episode
Host: Allan Dougan
Guests: Terri Truscott, Denise Halliday
Topics covered
- disadvantaged students
- culturally diverse education
- mathematics education
- action plans
- metacognition
- student engagement
Keywords
- disadvantaged students
- culturally diverse
- mathematics
- action plan
- metacognition
- student questions
- pre-assessments
- post-assessments
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Dandenong Primary School, AAMT
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- Mathematics, Identity and Equity in STEM, with Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith · February 22, 2026 · 29 min
- Unpacking Ideology in the Classroom, with Tom Mahoney · February 15, 2026 · 29 min
- Mathematics Leadership in Times of Change, with Dr Matt Sexton · February 8, 2026 · 37 min
- Inside the Maths Toolbox: How Choice Builds Confidence in the Primary Classroom · February 1, 2026 · 34 min
- Lessons from Abroad: What Australian Teachers Can Learn from North America · December 1, 2025 · 33 min
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