Partnership at the Cultural Interface: How adults come together to support the mathematical learning of children making the transition to school

This thesis reports on an inquiry that was focused on identifying and understanding the processes that adults in young children's lives engage in when establishing and maintaining relationships that support mathematical learning during the transition to school. The aim of the inquiry was to set up the optimal conditions for relationships to occur and then to identify and understand the processes that the adults engaged with when coming together.The inquiry employed a Design Based Research Methodology to design and implement a small-scale intervention at two different sites. The intervention involved, researching and then creating the 'optimal' conditions for adult relationships that focus on the mathematical learning of children to emerge, and then studying what transpired. The purpose of implementation was to derive a set of draft design principles that could be employed by others to guide future practice and research.The Indigenous lens of the Cultural Interface (Nakata, 2000) was drawn upon to examine the space that was created when the adults came together. This afforded a way to gain a better understanding of adult relationships that support the mathematical learning of children making the move to school, including how such relationships emerge and are maintained in action.The draft principles that are presented in this thesis represent the findings of the study. These findings are not definitive but rather provide a starting point for those embarking on similar research or practice. They provide insight into adult relationships (that focus on the mathematical learning of children) as they emerge in action, including what might support might be necessary to facilitate such relationships in the context of starting school.