Can teachers and mathematicians communicate produc

Authors: Jason Cooper Ronnie Karsenty

Publish Date: 2016/10/17

Volume: 21, Issue: 3, Pages: 237-261

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Abstract

Is it possible that a meeting of mathematicians and primary school teachers will be productive This question became intriguing when one professor of mathematics initiated a professional development course for practicing primary school teachers which he taught alongside a group of mathematics PhD students This report scrutinizes the uncommon meeting of these two communities who have very different perspectives on mathematics and its teaching The instructors had no experience in primary school teaching and their professed goal was to deepen the teachers’ understanding of the mathematics they teach while teachers were expecting the course to be pedagogically relevant for their teaching Surprisingly despite this mismatch in expectations the course was considered a success by teachers and instructors alike In our study we analyzed a lesson on division with remainder for teachers of grades 3–6 taught by the professor The framework used for the data analysis was mathematical discourse for teaching a discursive adaptation of the wellknown mathematical knowledge for teaching framework Our analysis focuses on the nature of the interactions between the parties and the learning opportunities they afforded We show how different concerns which might have hindered communication in fact fueled discussions leading to understandings of the topic and its teaching that were new to all the parties involved The findings point to a feasible model for professional development where mathematicians may contribute to the education of practicing teachers while they are gaining new insights themselves

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