DrCarly Sawatzki

I want every student to get an excellent education so they can live their best life. Working as a mathematics teacher educator and educational researcher at Deakin University, I design courses that support preservice and practising teachers (including out-of-field and non-specialist teachers of mathematics) to teach differently, by helping them to connect students’ classroom learning with the real world. I am internationally recognised for my thought leadership on young people’s financial education at school and my critical insights into issues of ethics and equity in education. I am widely published on these and other topics and have led research, curriculum and professional learning projects for education authorities across Australia. I am a dynamic and in-demand public speaker, writer, and influencer who loves exchanging ideas, sharing laughter and – above all – making a difference. To find out more, visit my website and/or LinkedIn profile.

I work to increase the robustness and lifeworthiness of mathematics teaching and learning at school. As an expert in educational design research methodology, my work is situated across four interconnected themes: mathematics and numeracy education (including teaching and learning about finance); curriculum innovation; educational justice for First Nations learners; and teacher learning. As a public intellectual, I share the knowledge and insights that my work generates as widely as possible. The impact of my scholarly endeavours is evident in how the ideas are being accessed, applied and referenced in policy and curriculum initiatives in Australia and internationally.

My research and teaching are synergistic. As a teacher educator, my priority is to help students adopt a growth orientation, challenge any preconceived ideas about quality and equality in education, confront their mathematical anxieties and misconceptions, and develop their knowledge and skills for mathematics and numeracy teaching. My teaching impresses upon preservice and practising teachers that educational contextualisation—defined as facilitating learning by connecting the curriculum to students’ lives, including prior learning experiences within families and communities—pays respect to the funds of knowledge students bring to their school education while preparing them for critically informed citizenship.

2025: Top 50 Global Changemakers List, Money Awareness and Inclusion Awards

2024: Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Innovation in Teaching and Learning

• Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) - Co-convenor, Special Interest Group on Curriculum Inquiry
• Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) - Co-convenor, Special Working Group on Out-of-Field Teaching
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mathematics Alliance (ATSIMA)
• The Mathematical Association of Victoria (MAV) - Conference Committee Member, The Mathematical Association of Victoria
• Victorian Commercial Teachers Association (VCTA)