This book presents innovative approaches and state-of-the-art empirical studies on mathematics teacher learning. It highlights the advantages and challenges of such tools as classroom videos, concept cartoons, simulations, and scenarios. The book details how representations of practice encourage and afford professional development, and describes how these tools help to investigate aspects of teacher expertise, beliefs, and conceptions. In addition, the book identifies the methodological challenges that can emerge and the obstacles educators might encounter when using representations of practice. The book examines the nature of these challenges and provides suggestions for solving them. It offers a variety of different approaches that can help educators to develop professional learning activities for prospective and in-service teachers.
The field of teacher education is currently experiencing a shift towards curricula focused on practices for teaching and professional coursework designed around different pedagogies of practice (e.g., decomposition of, representations of, and approximations of practice). Researchers and research-informed documents have identified a variety of mathematics teaching practices, one of which is facilitating classroom mathematics discourse. Further, researchers have identified some key practices that constitute facilitating classroom mathematics discourse such as assessing questions and advancing questions (Smith, Bill, & Hughes, 2008) and judicious telling (Lobato, Clarke, & Ellis, 2005). In a methods course designed to engage preservice secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs) in course activities designed around pedagogies of practice and focused on Types of Teacher Talk (TTT) (i.e., assessing questions, advancing questions, and judicious telling), this study sought to examine what PSMTs learn about TTT and in what ways the course activities were connected to their learning. The design of the study was informed by the interpretive research genre and the study employed qualitative data collection and analysis techniques to explore four case studies of the PSMTs' learning of TTT. The results of the study indicate that the PSMTs, over the course of the semester, constructed conceptions of TTT that were oriented towards focusing on and promoting students' mathematical thinking. In addition, while there were similarities among the PSMTs' conceptions of TTT, they constructed these conceptions in individually distinct ways. Study implications include the design of preservice teacher education professional coursework that engages preservice teachers in multiple and extended experiences with a small set of teaching practices.
Sharpen concrete teaching strategies that empower students to reason-and-prove How do teachers and students benefit from engaging in reasoning-and-proving? What strategies can teachers use to support students’ capacity to reason-and-prove? What does reasoning-and-proving instruction look like? We Reason & We Prove for ALL Mathematics helps mathematics teachers in grades 6-12 engage in the critical practice of reasoning-and-proving and support the development of reasoning-and-proving in their students. The phrase "reasoning-and-proving" describes the processes of identifying patterns, making conjectures, and providing arguments that may or may not qualify as proofs – processes that reflect the work of mathematicians. Going beyond the idea of "formal proof" traditionally relegated only to geometry, this book transcends all mathematical content areas with a variety of activities for teachers to learn more about reasoning-and-proving and about how to support students’ capacities to engage in this mathematical thinking through: Solving and discussing high-level mathematical tasks Analyzing narrative cases that make the relationship between teaching and learning salient Examining and interpreting student work that features a range of solution strategies, representations, and misconceptions Modifying tasks from curriculum materials so that they better support students to reason-and-prove Evaluating learning environments and making connections between key ideas about reasoning-and-proving and teaching strategies We Reason & We Prove for ALL Mathematics is designed as a learning tool for practicing and pre-service mathematics teachers and can be used individually or in a group. No other book tackles reasoning-and-proving with such breadth, depth, and practical applicability. Classroom examples, case studies, and sample problems help to sharpen concrete teaching strategies that empower students to reason-and-prove!
Using strengths-based approaches to support development in mathematics It’s time to re-imagine what’s possible and celebrate the brilliance multilingual learners bring to today’s classrooms. Innovative teaching strategies can position these learners as leaders in mathematics. Yet, as the number of multilingual learners in North American schools grows, many teachers have not had opportunities to gain the competencies required to teach these learners effectively, especially in disciplines such as mathematics. Multilingual learners—historically called English Language Learners—are expected to interpret the meaning of problems, analyze, make conjectures, evaluate their progress, and discuss and understand their own approaches and the approaches of their peers in mathematics classrooms. Thus, language plays a vital role in mathematics learning, and demonstrating these competencies in a second (or third) language is a challenging endeavor. Based on best practices and the authors’ years of research, this guide offers practical approaches that equip grades K-8 teachers to draw on the strengths of multilingual learners, partner with their families, and position these learners for success. Readers will find: • A focus on multilingual students as leaders • A strength-based approach that draws on students’ life experiences and cultural backgrounds • An emphasis on maintaining high expectations for learners’ capacity for mastering rigorous content • Strategies for representing concepts in different formats • Stop and Think questions throughout and reflection questions at the end of each chapter • Try It! Implementation activities, student work examples, and classroom transcripts With case studies and activities that provide a solid foundation for teachers’ growth and exploration, this groundbreaking book will help teachers and teacher educators engage in meaningful, humanized mathematics instruction.
Teacher Education and Practice, a peer-refereed journal, is dedicated to the encouragement and the dissemination of research and scholarship related to professional education. The journal is concerned, in the broadest sense, with teacher preparation, practice and policy issues related to the teaching profession, as well as being concerned with learning in the school setting. The journal also serves as a forum for the exchange of diverse ideas and points of view within these purposes. As a forum, the journal offers a public space in which to critically examine current discourse and practice as well as engage in generative dialogue. Alternative forms of inquiry and representation are invited, and authors from a variety of backgrounds and diverse perspectives are encouraged to contribute. Teacher Education & Practice is published by Rowman & Littlefield.
Primary Mathematics: Integrating Theory with Practice is a comprehensive introduction to teaching mathematics in Australian primary schools. Closely aligned with the Australian Curriculum, it provides a thorough understanding of measurement, geometry, patterns and algebra, data and statistics, and chance and probability. The fourth edition provides support for educators in key aspects of teaching: planning, assessment, digital technologies, diversity in the classroom and integrating mathematics content with other learning areas. It also features a new chapter on the role of education support in the mathematics classroom. Each chapter has been thoroughly revised and is complemented by classroom snapshots demonstrating practical application of theories, activities to further understanding and reflection questions to guide learning. New in this edition are 'Concepts to consider', which provide a guided explanation and further discussion of key concepts to support pre- and in-service teachers' learning and teaching of the fundamentals of mathematics.
This text offers guidance to teachers, mathematics coaches, administrators, parents, and policymakers. This book: provides a research-based description of eight essential mathematics teaching practices ; describes the conditions, structures, and policies that must support the teaching practices ; builds on NCTM's Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and supports implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics to attain much higher levels of mathematics achievement for all students ; identifies obstacles, unproductive and productive beliefs, and key actions that must be understood, acknowledged, and addressed by all stakeholders ; encourages teachers of mathematics to engage students in mathematical thinking, reasoning, and sense making to significantly strengthen teaching and learning.
Recent research in problem solving has shifted its focus to actual classroom implementation and what is really going on during problem solving when it is used regularly in classroom. This book seeks to stay on top of that trend by approaching diverse aspects of current problem solving research, covering three broad themes. Firstly, it explores the role of teachers in problem-solving classrooms and their professional development, moving onto—secondly—the role of students when solving problems, with particular consideration of factors like group work, discussion, role of students in discussions and the effect of students’ engagement on their self-perception and their view of mathematics. Finally, the book considers the question of problem solving in mathematics instruction as it overlaps with problem design, problem-solving situations, and actual classroom implementation. The volume brings together diverse contributors from a variety of countries and with wide and varied experiences, combining the voices of leading and developing researchers. The book will be of interest to any reader keeping on the frontiers of research in problem solving, more specifically researchers and graduate students in mathematics education, researchers in problem solving, as well as teachers and practitioners.
Drawing on sociocultural learning theory, this book offers a groundbreaking theory of secondary mathematics teacher learning in schools, focusing on the transformation of instruction as a conceptual change project to achieve ambitious and equitable mathematics teaching. Despite decades of research showing the importance of ambitious and equitable teaching, few inroads have been made in most U.S. classrooms, and teacher learning in general remains undertheorized in most educational research. Illustrating their theory through closely documented case studies of secondary mathematics teachers’ learning and instructional practices, authors Horn and Garner explore the key conceptual issues teachers are required to work through in order to more fully realize ambitious and equitable teaching in their classrooms. By theorizing teacher learning from a sociocultural perspective and focusing on instructional practice, the authors make a unique contribution to the field of teacher learning. This book offers researchers, scholars, and teacher educators new theoretical and methodological tools for the elusive phenomenon of teacher learning, and provides instructional leaders and coaches with practical examples of how teachers shift their thinking and practice.
