Session Information
24 SES 14, Mathematics Teacher Professional Development
Parallel Paper Session
Contribution
Knowledge evolves and the teacher needs to keep up with such evolution. The teacher’s professional development comprises a multiplicity of mechanisms, one of them being the participation in programs.
This study has as its main goal to study teacher’s Professional development through participation in the Training program in Mathematics for Elementary Teachers (TPMET). 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:
o How does the didactical knowledge and the teaching practice of the teacher evolve during TPMET?
o How does the reflecting ability of the teacher who has taken place within the program develops? What is the contribution of portfolio usage towards such a development of the capacity to reflect?
The teacher’s professional development is taken to be a process to the improvement of professional knowledge and of his competencies, having as an ultimate purpose the improvement of student’s acquisitions. (Guskey, 2000). Such a process must be managed according to its needs (Day, 2001; Fullan & Hargreaves, 1992) and can take several aspects (Day, 2001; Marcelo, 2002; Sowder, 2007).
Professional knowledge is seen as being as essential practical knowledge in nature, arising from theoretical knowledge and experience, mediated by the personal characteristics of the teacher and his experience and training (Elbaz, 1983; Santos, 2000). In this study the didactical knowledge of the teacher has assumed a particular importance, since i tis the knowledge directly connected to the teaching practice, involving the knowledge of Mathematics, of the students, of the curriculum and of the the instruction process (Ponte et al., 1997; Santos, 2000).
Teaching practice, involving classroom planning, their conduction and reflection thereof is a relevant aspect of professional development, and directly connected with professional knowledge, since it is in the practice that it come forward (Schön, 1983), practice being simultaneously one of the sources of knowledge (Azcárate, 1999).
Reflection must be envisaged by the teacher as a constituting part of his practice so as to to allow its improvement and, consequently, students scholarly achievement (Schön, 1983, Zeichner, 1993). It is fundamental that reflection be envisaged as a deliberate, systematic and structured process, its beginning and end being situated in action (Dewey, 1933).
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Azcárate, P. (1999). El conocimiento profesional. Natureza, fuentes, organización y desarrollo. Quadrante, 8, 111-138. Day, C (2001). Desenvolvimento profissional de professores: Os desafios da aprendizagem permanente. Porto: Porto Editora. Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc.. Elbaz, F. (1983). Teacher thinking: A study of practical knowledge. London: Croom Helm. Fullan, M. & Hargreves, A. (1992). Teacher Development and Educational Change. In M. Fullan & A. Hargreves (Eds.), Teacher Development and Educational Change (pp. 1-9). London: The Falmer Press. Guskey, T. R. (2000). Evaluating professional development. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press. Marcelo, C. (2002). La formación inicial y permanente de los educadores. In Consejo Escolar del Estado, Los educadores en la sociedad del siglo XXI (pp. 161-194). Madrid: Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. Last accessed http://prometeo.us.es/idea/mie/pub/marcelo/COnsejo%20escolar.pdf in 04/03/2009 Ponte, J. P., Guimarães, H., Leal, L. C., Canavarro, P., & Abrantes, P. (1997). O conhecimento profissional dos professores de matemática: Relatório final do projecto "O saber dos professores: Concepções e práticas". Lisboa: University of Lisbon). Santos, L. (2000). A prática lectiva como actividade de resolução de problemas: um estudo com três professoras do ensino secundário (Phd tesis, University of Lisboa). Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practioner: How profesionals think in action. Aldershot Hants: Avebury. Sowder, J. T. (2007). The mathematical education and development of teachers. In F. Lester (Ed.), Second handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning: A project of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (pp. 157-223). Charlotte: Information Age Publishing. Stake, R. (2009). A arte da investigação com estudos de caso (2.ª ed.). Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulhenkian. Yin, R. K. (2009) Estudo de caso: Planejamento e métodos (4.ª ed.). Porto Alegre: Artemed Editora S.A.. Zeichner, K. (1993). A formação reflexiva de professores: Ideias e práticas. Lisboa: Educa.
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