Teacher Training in Mathematics: Influence in Aida’s Professional Development

Author(s):

Cristina MartinsLeonor Santos

Conference:

ECER 2010

Network:

11. Educational Effectiveness and Quality Assurance

Format:

Poster

Session Information

MC_Poster, Poster Session Main Conference

Main Conference Poster Session

Time:

2010-08-27

12:15-13:15

Room:

2nd Floor Hall (M.B)/ II KRS AULA, Päärakennus / Main Building,

Chair:

Contribution

This study has as its main goal to study teacher’s professional development through participation in the Training program in Mathematics for Primary School Teachers. This training program is underway in Portugal since the academic year of 2005/2006. It foresees undertaking three kinds of sessions (i) group training sessions for the development of curricular proposals to be tried out in the classroom, and the deepening of mathematical knowledge; (ii) classroom supervision sessions putting in practice the planning sorted out during training sessions, and (iii) a plenary session at the end of the program to assess the work carried out. Evaluation is based on portfolio building.

We aim at providing an answer to the following research questions:

- How does a teacher’s professional knowledge evolve throughout training? In particular, mathematic and didactic knowledge?

- What changes can one see in the teachers’ teaching practices throughout training? How does the teacher identify and justify them?

- How does the teacher’s reflecting ability evolve throughout training?

- What is the contribution of portfolio usage to the teacher’s professional knowledge?

Mathematic research during the last decade has shown that a solid knowledge is needed to teach well (Ma, 1999). Even teaching elementary math demands both an extensive mathematical knowledge and a wide range of pedagogical abilities.

Professional knowledge is action-directed knowledge, constructed and developed during experience and reflection upon experience (Santos, 2000). Elbaz (1983) stresses the fundamentally practical nature of teachers’ professional knowledge, built upon theoretical knowledge and knowledge arising from experience. Schön’s (1983) contribution, having as a starting point the disagreement with the methods and epistemological assumptions of technical rationality, has also tried to understand how Professional learn in practice, characterizing Professional knowledge as knowledge in action.

Shulman (1986) stresses the importance of content didactic knowledge, knowledge which goes beyond content per se into the dimension of content knowledge to teach. Ball, Thames, Phelps (2008), based on Shulman, consider that content knowledge is formed by horizon knowledge, common content knowledge and by specialized content knowledge. Pedagogical content knowledge is formed by knowledge of content and teaching, knowledge of content and students and knowledge of content and curriculum.

Several authors have devoted themselves to studying strategies for the teacher’s Professional knowledge, for instances reflection (Schön, 1983), colaborative work, (Day, 2001) and participation in actions and projects (Hiebert, Gallimore & Stigler, 2002). The portfolio also helps assessment to assume an essentially regulating function (Santos, 2004), promoting the teachers professional development (Lyons, 1999).

In this paper we hope to present the data concerning the professional develop of a teacher participating in this research – teacher Aida.

Method

We have decide for a qualitative methodological approach (Stake, 2005) performing three teacher case studies (Teddie & Tashakkori, 2003) Data gathering started in the academic year of 2006/2007 and used semi-structured interviews, participant observation and documental gathering. The group training session (GTS) and classroom supervision sessions (CSS) were observed. At the end of each observed class, interviews directed at the emerging aspects of experienced classroom activity also took place. Interviews and observations were audio taped and transcribed. Analyzed documents were the records included in portfolios (planning, materials used, students’ productions and reflections), the field notes on the CSS and the reflections upon GTS. Information analysis consists of data interpretation, considering the problem studied, theoretical assumptions and empirical work.

Expected Outcomes

From Aida’s participations in the project two outstanding aspects arise. Aida’s change towards teaching and learning mathematics is remarkable. Specifically, she has acquired a new insight about problem-solving, she used for the first time mathematics investigation within the classroom, became acquainted with new manipulative materials and assessed new usages for others she was already familiar with. For instances, problem, solving was considered a different activity from the ones she frequently undertook, to the point that it involved students in developing diverse solving strategies and not all of them in the same one. This new insight brought implications reflecting on her classroom practices. The reflection on classroom practices has proved to be an important factor in this teacher’s professional development. She not only learned how to reflect (for instances individually and collectively), but also learned about what to reflect (activity planning, evaluation of what the students might possible have learned from the activity, importance of the activity for the teacher, and future teacher’s perspective regarding Mathematics) and about the importance of reflection to reworking her practices

References

Ball, D., Thames, M. H., & Phelps, G. (2008). Content knowledge for teaching: what makes it special? Journal of Teacher Education, 59 (5), 389-407. Day, C (2001). Desenvolvimento profissional de professores: Os desafios da aprendizagem permanente. Porto: Porto Editora. Elbaz, F. (1983). Teacher thinking: A study of practical knowledge. London: Croom Helm. Hiebert, J., Gallimore, R. & Stigler, J. (2002). A knowledge base for the teaching profession. What would it look like and how can we get one?. Educational Researcher, 31(5), pp. 3-15 Lyons, N. (1999). How portfolios can shape emerging practice. Educational Leadership, 56(8), 63-65. Ma, L. (1999). Knowing and teaching elementary mathematics: teachers’understanding of fundamental mathematics in China and the United States. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Santos, L. (2000). A prática lectiva como actividade de resolução de problemas: Um estudo com três professoras do ensino secundário (Tese de doutoramento, Universidade de Lisboa). Lisboa: Associação de Professores de Matemática, Colecção Teses. Santos, L. (2004). La evaluación del aprendizage en matemáticas: orientaciones y retos. In J. Giménez; L. Santos & J. P. Ponte (Coords.), La actividade matemática en el aula: Homenaje a Paulo Abrantes (pp. 157-168). Barcelona: Biblioteca de Uno. Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practioner: How profesionals think in action. Aldershot Hants: Avebury. Shulman, L. (1986). Those Who Understand: Knowledge Growth in Teaching. Educational Researcher, 15 (2), 4-14. Stake, R. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 443-466). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publication. Teddlie, C., & Tashakkori, A. (2003). Major issues and controversies in the use of mixed methods in the social and behavioral sciences. In A. Tashakkori & C. Teddlie (Eds.), Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research (pp. 3-50). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publication.

Author Information

Cristina Martins

Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (Portugal)

Mathematics

Bragança

Leonor Santos

University of Lisbon, Portugal

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