Learning opportunities experienced by mathematics teachers: unveiling actions and role of the teacher educator during a formative process

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 112-140
Author(s):  
Marcia Aguiar ◽  
Eduardo Goedert Doná ◽  
Vania Batista Flose Jardim ◽  
Alessandro Jacques Ribeiro
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Teaching Algebra

Context: One of the research challenges related at the professional learning of mathematics teachers is to understand the importance of the role and actions of the teacher educator during a formative process. Objective: This research seeks to understand what the role was and how the actions of the teacher educator took place, in a process of continuing education with teachers of basic education, about the teaching of patterns and regularities, with a view to providing learning opportunities to the teachers involved. Design: It is a qualitative-interpretative study aligned to an intervention research. Settings and Participants: We developed the research in a formative process involving 33 mathematics teachers and future teachers, and 3 teacher educators. Data collection: We use data from audio and video recordings of planning and enacting of the formative process, and protocols from teachers’ tasks and planning from teacher educators. Results: We found that teacher educators, since planning the formative process, sought to provide opportunities for participating teachers professional learning, since he/she structured the process through professional learning tasks, using videos of mathematics lessons to highlight the classroom practice, as well as encourage discussions among teachers about patterns and regularities in and for the teaching of algebra. Conclusions: We identified that teacher educators played a mediating role in the orchestration of the discussions and an articulator between mathematics and didactics, thus providing opportunities for professional development and the learning of teaching algebra.

scholarly journals Re-imagining mentoring as a dynamic hub in the transformation of initial teacher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel M. Lofthouse
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Experienced Teacher ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Based

Purpose Teacher education in many countries is under reform with growing differences in its form and function. This is indicative of the ongoing negotiations around the place of theory, research and practice in teachers’ professional learning. However, the demand for mentoring of trainee teachers during often extended and multiple school-based placements is a relative constant. Indeed, with the trend towards greater school-based professional experience mentoring practices become ever more critical. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper written from the perspective of an experienced teacher educator in England, drawing on both practical experience and a body of associated research. It can be conceptualised as related to cases of practice, linked to episodes of practitioner research grounded in the ethics of the improvability of practice, the desire to meet the needs of the professional communities and a deep understanding of the demands and cultures of their workplaces. Findings Mentoring can be re-imagined as a dynamic hub within a practice development-led model for individual professional learning and institutional growth. Acting on this conceptualisation would allow mentors, trainees and other supporting teacher educators to contribute to the transformation of professional learning practices and educational contexts. Originality/value This paper goes beyond offering merely helpful guidance to participants and stakeholders in mentoring, or stipulating standards to be achieved, to considering what might be described as a hopeful or transformational stance in relation to mentoring. Teacher educators can continue to bring value to the transformation of teacher education through a focus on mentoring as an educative process.

Unpacking dimensions of immersion teacher educator identity

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aisling Leavy ◽  
Mairéad Hourigan ◽  
T. J. Ó Ceallaigh
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Professional Identities ◽  
Immersion Education ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Study Methodology

Abstract Inadequate teacher preparation for immersion programs remains a challenge. While there is a significant dearth of research on teacher development in immersion education, research focusing on immersion teacher educators (ITEs) is even more scant. Using self-study methodology, this study explores the professional learning and experiences of three teacher educators (TEs) as they construct new professional identities as ITEs as part of engagement in Lesson Study. The paper particularly focuses on two Mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) who were newcomers to the immersion education setting. A community of practice (CoP) framework was utilised to provide insights into what Vygotsky (1987) terms the twisting path of all three TEs as they engaged in the CoP. Critical moments of defending content as priority, negotiating an integrated space, and becoming immersion-responsive were revealed. CoP played a vital role in facilitating new professional identities and illuminates in multiple ways the exclusive and complex process of becoming an ITE.

The Professional Learning of Teacher Educators Leading International Professional Experience

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 497-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Williams
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Educational Experiences ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Professional Relationships ◽  
School Staff ◽  
Professional Experience ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
The Impact

In this article, the professional learning of teacher educators leading international professional experience (IPE) is examined. There is a growing body of research on the learning of pre-service teachers who undertake a period of professional experience in international contexts, but much less is known about the experiences of the academics who lead these programs. This knowledge is important because the success of such programs for pre-service teachers depends largely on the quality of the planning, preparation, and leadership of these as educational experiences. Based on data collected in semistructured interviews with 10 teacher educators who have led IPE to a variety of global locations, this article outlines the professional learning gained from leading a group of pre-service teachers on 3-week IPEs. Findings include the importance of building professional relationships with others involved in the IPE, including the pre-service teachers, school staff, and communities, and the impact of the experience on the development of teacher educator identities and practice.

Adding the “Digital Layer”

2013 ◽  
pp. 345-357
Author(s):  
Troy Hicks
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Summer Institute ◽  
Digital Writing ◽  
Subsequent Work ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
Writing Project

Opportunities for teachers to engage in professional development that leads to substantive change in their instructional practice are few, yet the National Writing Project (NWP) provides one such “transformational” experience through their summer institutes (Whitney, 2008). Also, despite recent moves in the field of English education to integrate digital writing into teacher education and K-12 schools (NWP, et al., 2010), professional development models that support teachers’ “technological pedagogical content knowledge” (Mishra & Koehler, 2008) related to teaching digital writing are few. This case study documents the experience of one teacher who participated in an NWP summer institute with the author, himself a teacher educator and site director interested in technology and writing. Relying on evidence from her 2010 summer experience, subsequent work with the writing project, and an interview from the winter of 2013, the author argues that an integrative, immersive model of teaching and learning digital writing in the summer institute led to substantive changes in her classroom practice and work as a teacher leader. Implications for teacher educators, researchers, and educational policy are discussed.

scholarly journals Meeting the Black Swan

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-33
Author(s):  
Kari Smith ◽  
Marit Ulvik ◽  
Elizabeth Curtis ◽  
Ainat Guberman ◽  
Lut Lippeveld ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Black Swan ◽  
Good Teaching ◽  
Steep Learning Curve ◽  
Ict Competence ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Summer Academy ◽  
Future Practice

In the 2018 International Forum for Teacher Educator Development (InFo-TED) Summer Academy, we, seven teacher educators from Belgium, England, Israel, Norway, and Scotland, became interested in strengthening our ICT competence. At an international conference in June 2019, we presented our personal stories about how we used ICT in our teaching, and what we wanted to learn more about. In June 2020 we wrote a new narrative describing our experiences with ICT which was forced upon us in the spring of 2020. In this narrative, we reflected on how we think our practice will change post-Covid-19. In this paper, we discuss our new narratives in relation to those we wrote in 2019. The two sets of stories were formed into seven vignettes seeking an answer to: 1) How did teacher educators (we) experience the Covid-19 which forced the need for change in working only online, and 2) How do we foresee that the current pandemic will change our future practice? The vignettes show we have had a steep learning curve regarding the technicalities of using ICT, exploring on our own as we were working from home. Moreover, we believe we will not return to pre-Covid-19 ways of teaching as we realise that ICT has not been fully exploited. Yet, we still need to find ways to combine ICT with our pedagogical visions as teacher educators. There are differences, benefits and disadvantages, related to our respective contexts, disciplines and competence. However, we found more similarities than differences. The latter is used to feed into each other’s professional learning. We all had to learn how to manage technical issues, and now we need to find ways to incorporate ICT critically and reflectively to model good teaching in teacher education. Covid-19 was a Black Swan which forced us to change. Now it is time to position ourselves as teacher educators in a changed reality.

scholarly journals Teacher Practice Spaces: Examples and Design Considerations

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Reich ◽  
YJ Kim ◽  
Kevin Robinson ◽  
Dan Roy ◽  
Meredith Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Teacher Practice ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Design Considerations ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Pedagogies Of Enactment ◽  
Games And Simulations

Teacher practice spaces are learning environments, inspired by games and simulations, that allow teachers to rehearse for and reflect upon important decisions in teaching. Practice-based teacher educators use a variety of approaches to simulation in methods courses and other professional learning opportunities, and existing simulations often attempt to holistically replicate authentic teaching conditions. We extend this work by developing new kinds of practice spaces that do not attempt to fully simulate teaching, but rather offer playful and creative opportunities for novice teachers to develop skills and dispositions valuable for teachers. We summarize six different practice spaces developed through design research, and then articulate a set of design considerations emerging from this work to expand the genre of pedagogies of enactment in teacher professional development.

scholarly journals Finding Common Ground: A Synthesis of Science and Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Experiences with Professional Growth

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meredith Park Rogers ◽  
Amanda Berry ◽  
Konrad Krainer ◽  
Ruhama Even
Keyword(s):  
Science Teacher ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Future Research ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Science Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics And Science

AbstractThe seven articles that comprise this Special Issue examine the professional growth of mathematics and science teacher educators across different contexts and different foci of who is the teacher educator being studied. Despite these differences, a common thread running throughout these seven articles is the need for learning to be situated in collaboration with others. In this final article, we examine the contribution of these articles through two perspectives: that of the collaborative contexts supporting the professional growth of mathematics and science teacher educators, and the role of disciplinary knowledge as part of the purpose for teacher educators’ professional growth. We notice that collaboration can take on very different structures in supporting teacher educators’ professional learning due to the different purposes and roles of the teacher educators in the studies. We also notice that while collaboration figures as an important component in all of the studies, the disciplinary specific aspects of collaboration, i.e., how collaboration might be negotiated differently by teacher educators in mathematics and science, is still not well understood. Overall, these articles provide important insights that help to shed new light on the complex and multifaceted nature of teacher educators’ learning and growth and provide productive avenues for future research.

The Three-Minute-Rehearsal Cycle of Enactment and Investigation: Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers Learning to Elicit and Use Evidence of Student Thinking

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-48
Author(s):  
Fran Arbaugh ◽  
Duanne Graysay ◽  
Nursen Konuk ◽  
Ben Freeburn
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Secondary Mathematics ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Learning To Teach ◽  
Student Thinking ◽  
National Council ◽  
Design Learning ◽  
The Impact

In the last decade, mathematics teacher educators have begun to design learning opportunities for preservice mathematics teachers using a pedagogies-of-practice perspective. In particular, learning cycles provide a structure for engaging PSTs in learning to teach through the use of representations, approximations, and decompositions of practice (Grossman et al., 2009). In this article, we provide details of one learning cycle designed to support secondary mathematics preservice teachers' learning to elicit and use evidence of student thinking and pose purposeful questions (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2014). Through qualitative analyses conducted on learning reflections, we provide evidence of the impact on engagement of this cycle through the lens of the Framework for Learning to Teach (Hammerness et al., 2005).

scholarly journals Mathematical Specialized Knowledge of a Mathematics Teacher Educator for Teaching Divisibility

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-210
Author(s):  
Marieli Vanessa Rediske de Almeida ◽  
Miguel Ribeiro ◽  
Dario Fiorentini
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Division Algorithm ◽  
Specialized Knowledge ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Educator ◽  
Prospective Secondary Teachers

The knowledge of Mathematics teachers has been a very prominent focus of attention in the last decades. However, it leaves aside one of the dimensions involved in the development of this type of knowledge, specifically the knowledge of Mathematics teacher educators. In this paper, we discuss a mathematics teacher educator’s knowledge in the context of classes on Euclid’s division algorithm theorem in a Number Theory course for prospective secondary teachers. Some indicators of this specialized knowledge of mathematics teacher educators are presented and discussed.

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