Abstract
The publication of the National Council ofTeachers of Mathematics initial Standards(1989) has acted as a catalyst to beginreforming the way mathematics is taught in theUSA. However, the literature regarding reformmovements suggests that changing oureducational systems requires overcoming manybarriers and is thus difficult to achieve.Reform in mathematics education, like reformmovements in other areas of education, has thusbeen slow to take hold. One structure that hasbeen shown to support educational reform,particularly instructional reform, has beenteacher community. This paper discusses aprofessional development intervention thatattempted to start a professional communityamong a group of secondary mathematics teachersthrough in-service work on mathematical problemsolving and technology. The results of thisstudy suggest that the use of mathematicalcontent explorations in professionaldevelopment settings provides a means to helpmathematics teachers build professionalcommunities. Together, these two components –mathematical content explorations and teachercommunity – provided these secondarymathematics teachers with a strong foundationfor engaging in the reform of their mathematicsclasses.
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Lachance, A., Confrey, J. Interconnecting Content and Community: A Qualitative Study of Secondary Mathematics Teachers. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education 6, 107–137 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023908127831
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023908127831