Jenni Back

Spaces to discuss mathematics: communities of practice on an online discussion board

In theories of learning that adopt a situated stance to knowledge the notion of identity is vital; how learners position themselves in relation to, and are mutually positioned by, the situation within which they are learning will have a strong bearing on the learning outcomes. One of the challenges for learning mathematics in school is that learners position themselves, and are positioned, as pupils rather than as mathematicians. This paper focuses on discussion boards designed for secondary school mathematics students, and we use Wengers (1998) model of communities of practice, building on earlier work by the authors (Back and Pratt 2007; Pratt and Kelly 2007) in which ‘idealised communities’ are constructed and used, to consider a case study of one participant who engages in developing his identity as a mathematician doing mathematics, as well his identity as a learner and a teacher of mathematics.

The Researching Effective CPD in Mathematics Education (RECME) research project

In England, current concerns about the teaching and learning of mathematics (ACME 2002, 2006; Ofsted 2008; Smith 2004; Williams 2008) are addressed partly through continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers of mathematics (ACME 2002; Ofsted 2008). In 2006 the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics was set up to provide strategic leadership for mathematicsspecific CPD; it commissioned this research project to provide evidence-based advice and recommendations. It is rare to find large-scale research concerning CPD for teachers of mathematics and it is common to find that research in this area is undertaken by people who could be seen as stake-holders in the CPD initiatives being studied (as discussed by Joubert and Sutherland 2008). The RECME project, however, was both large-scale and conducted by researchers who were not involved in the CPD initiatives. It investigated 30 different professional development initiatives for teachers of mathematics taking place in the academic year 2007 2008, collecting and analysing data about their structure and organisation, as well as the responses of participating teachers. This report concerns aspects of the study related to the characterisation of the professional development initiatives and teachers’ responses to various characteristics, which we suggest provide one way of understanding the ‘effectiveness’ of professional development initiatives. The thirty initiatives in the sample fell into three types: courses; within-school initiatives; and networks in which groups of teachers from different schools or colleges met to provide mutual support. Some teachers took part in professional development to gain qualifications. However, most teachers in the courses and networks seemed to participate because they were invited, they wanted to take advantage of an opportunity, or they were encouraged to. The within-school initiatives were organised by the school, and all teachers of mathematics participated. Courses and some networks tended to introduce participants to new ideas and knowledge, frequently focusing on specific mathematical knowledge for teaching, but in some cases approaching improving mathematics teaching and learning more

INDUCTING PUPILS INTO MATHEMATICAL DISCOURSE

This paper looks at examples of teacher/pupil talk taken from transcripts of primary school mathematics lessons and explores the relationships between the educational discourse of the classroom, mathematical discourse and the discourse of school mathematics. Some conjectures are made about the teachers’ approaches to their teaching on the basis of transcript evidence.