Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education

Tan, Liang; Ang, Keng

doi: 10.1007/s10857-015-9305-zpmid: N/A

A school-based professional development programme (SBPD) aimed at developing secondary school mathematics teachers’ competencies to teach mathematical modelling in Singapore is presented and evaluated in this article. The SBPD is characterized by two key features—content elements to develop teachers’ knowledge and skills, and transformative learning cycles for teachers to elicit, enact and reorganize their orientations in a mathematical modelling classroom. Goal-based decision-making analysis of teachers’ practice suggests that this SBPD positively influences teachers’ knowledge and resources, goals and orientations in planning, designing and enacting modelling learning experiences.

Teuscher, Dawn; Moore, Kevin; Carlson, Marilyn

doi: 10.1007/s10857-015-9304-0pmid: N/A

Mathematics educators and writers of mathematics education policy documents continue to emphasize the importance of teachers focusing on and using student thinking to inform their instructional decisions and interactions with students. In this paper, we characterize the interactions between a teacher and student(s) that exhibit this focus. Specifically, we extend previous work in this area by utilizing Piaget’s construct of decentering (The language and thought of the child. Meridian Books, Cleveland, 1955) to explain teachers’ actions relative to both their thinking and their students’ thinking. In characterizing decentering with respect to a teacher’s focus on student thinking, we use two illustrations that highlight the importance of decentering in making in-the-moment decisions that are based on student thinking. We also discuss the influence of teacher decentering actions on the quality of student–teacher interactions and their influence on student learning. We close by discussing various implications of decentering, including how decentering is related to other research constructs including teachers’ development and enactment of mathematical knowledge for teaching.

Geiger, Vince; Muir, Tracey; Lamb, Janeen

doi: 10.1007/s10857-015-9306-ypmid: N/A

The purpose of this article is to examine the potential of video-catalysed reflective practice for supporting ongoing teacher professional learning in numeracy. We explore this potential through a synthesis of two case studies that investigated different approaches to supporting teacher reflection on practice through the use of video-stimulated recall: one case involved a single researcher and a single teacher, and the other case included two researchers working with a pair of teachers. Data were analysed through the use of two conceptual lenses which were synthesised from literature related to levels of teacher reflection and teacher change. The analysis suggests that video-stimulated recall can be an effective medium for promoting teacher professional learning, providing quality reflection and questioning are included as crucial elements of the processes.

Roller, Sarah

doi: 10.1007/s10857-015-9307-xpmid: N/A

Most teacher preparation programs have embraced the use of video as an effective methodology for developing teachers’ noticing skills. This study focused on learning about what secondary mathematics prospective teachers (PSTs) were able to notice when viewing video of their own co-teaching, particularly in a microteaching setting that consisted of peers. PSTs documented their observations on an observation tool while re-watching their video and then identified and ranked their top three observations. The ranked noticing statements were analyzed based on a grounded theory approach. Overall, PSTs’ ranked observations were more likely to attend to students and had a strong focus on mathematics and student learning. Ranked observations equally demonstrated both broad and specific understanding of video moments and often made suggestions that something they noticed could be improved in the implementation stage, versus improvements in planning or changes in themselves. Results support PSTs’ use of video for developing noticing skills in teacher education programs.