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Researching mathematics leader learning: Investigating the mediation of math knowledge needed for teaching on leaders’ collective work in mathematics
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51
RESEARCHING MATHEMATICS LEADER LEARNING: INVESTIGATING
THE MEDIATION OF MATH KNOWLEDGE NEEDED FOR TEACHING
ON LEADERS’ COLLECTIVE WORK IN MATHEMATICS
Rebekah Elliott (1)
Oregon State University
## email not listed ##
Elham Kazemi
University of Washington
## email not listed ##
This research report examines the resources leaders access as they engage in collective mathematical activity. By examining resources we explore how leaders’ participation in the collective work looks and sounds different across groups. Furthermore, through our mixed-method research design we investigate possible linkages between leaders’ resources and a group’s mathematical knowledge for teaching. This novel use of MKT is central in our exploratory study to raise questions and hypotheses about what leaders need to know to lead.
Background
The data for this paper were drawn from a larger study, Researching Mathematics Leader
Learning (RMLL) (2) investigating how leaders learn to cultivate mathematically rich learning environments for teachers. Two key assumptions under gird our work. First, to improve children’s mathematical learning, teachers need to develop deep understandings of mathematics (Ball & Bass, 2000; Hill et al., 2005; Ma, 1999). Second, leaders of mathematics PD need to learn to create and nurture PD climates where teachers have rich opportunities to grapple with and understand mathematics more deeply (Wilson & Bern, 1999).
There is widespread agreement that improving teaching and learning requires that teachers
participate in high-quality PD (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1999; Loucks-Horsley et al., 2003). However, what leaders need to know in order to construct high quality PD is under-defined (Even, 2004; Stein et al., 1999). We have chosen, with sound theoretical support, to focus on developing leaders’ understandings of norms for mathematical reasoning or sociomathematical (SM) norms. These are the norms that guide the ways people interact mathematically (Yackel & Cobb, 1996). Our work is informed by the classroom research on SM norms where norms are established and cultivated in students’ mathematical activity (Kazemi & Stipek, 2001; Yackel & Cobb, 1996). We extend this work, focusing on how leaders may engage teachers in mathematically rich environments where productive SM norms are essential in supporting mathematical discussion and debate (3).
This paper examines the mathematical resources leaders bring to mathematical activity to
understand what might be entailed in leaders developing an understanding of productive SM norms and putting these norms into practice in mathematics PD. We recognize that leaders’ collective mathematical activity is not the same as leaders working with teachers on mathematics. We conjecture that if we know what resources leaders have access to, and how the resources are taken up by leaders when collectively engaged in productive mathematical activity, then we may better understand what resources are available to leaders and perhaps needed to cultivate mathematically rich PD environments.
Lamberg, T., & Wiest, L. R. (Eds.). (2007). Proceedings of the 29
th
annual meeting of the North
American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Stateline (Lake Tahoe), NV: University of Nevada, Reno.
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| | Authors: Elliott, Rebekah., Kazemi, Elham. and Harrington, Rachel. |
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51
RESEARCHING MATHEMATICS LEADER LEARNING: INVESTIGATING
THE MEDIATION OF MATH KNOWLEDGE NEEDED FOR TEACHING
ON LEADERS’ COLLECTIVE WORK IN MATHEMATICS
Rebekah Elliott (1)
Oregon State University
Elham Kazemi
University of Washington
## email not listed ##
This research report examines the resources leaders access as they engage in collective
mathematical activity. By examining resources we explore how leaders’ participation in the
collective work looks and sounds different across groups. Furthermore, through our mixed-method
research design we investigate possible linkages between leaders’ resources and a group’s
mathematical knowledge for teaching. This novel use of MKT is central in our exploratory study to
raise questions and hypotheses about what leaders need to know to lead.
Background
The data for this paper were drawn from a larger study, Researching Mathematics Leader
Learning (RMLL) (2) investigating how leaders learn to cultivate mathematically rich learning
environments for teachers. Two key assumptions under gird our work. First, to improve children’s
mathematical learning, teachers need to develop deep understandings of mathematics (Ball & Bass,
2000; Hill et al., 2005; Ma, 1999). Second, leaders of mathematics PD need to learn to create and
nurture PD climates where teachers have rich opportunities to grapple with and understand
mathematics more deeply (Wilson & Bern, 1999).
There is widespread agreement that improving teaching and learning requires that teachers
participate in high-quality PD (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1999; Loucks-Horsley et al.,
2003). However, what leaders need to know in order to construct high quality PD is under-defined
(Even, 2004; Stein et al., 1999). We have chosen, with sound theoretical support, to focus on
developing leaders’ understandings of norms for mathematical reasoning or sociomathematical
(SM) norms. These are the norms that guide the ways people interact mathematically (Yackel &
Cobb, 1996). Our work is informed by the classroom research on SM norms where norms are
established and cultivated in students’ mathematical activity (Kazemi & Stipek, 2001; Yackel &
Cobb, 1996). We extend this work, focusing on how leaders may engage teachers in
mathematically rich environments where productive SM norms are essential in supporting
mathematical discussion and debate (3).
This paper examines the mathematical resources leaders bring to mathematical activity to
understand what might be entailed in leaders developing an understanding of productive SM norms
and putting these norms into practice in mathematics PD. We recognize that leaders’ collective
mathematical activity is not the same as leaders working with teachers on mathematics. We
conjecture that if we know what resources leaders have access to, and how the resources are taken
up by leaders when collectively engaged in productive mathematical activity, then we may better
understand what resources are available to leaders and perhaps needed to cultivate mathematically
rich PD environments.
Lamberg, T., & Wiest, L. R. (Eds.). (2007). Proceedings of the 29
th
annual meeting of the North
American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education,
Stateline (Lake Tahoe), NV: University of Nevada, Reno.
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