Developing Teacher Practice

Throughout this book I have taken the view that mathematical ideas are not things to be distributed bodily from teacher to student. Rather, mathematics is an inseparable aspect of human practice, a form of structuring placed on various forms of activity. It is located in individuals and only has life in the acts of these individuals. The theoretical perspectives assumed have various implications for the teacher’s classroom practice and how this might be developed. If mathematics is a style of activity rather than a list of content on a curriculum, the task of teaching is not one of delivery but one of initiating students into specific styles of activity. Since the mathematics “owned” by the teacher is part of themselves, his task may be seen in terms of helping students to build the mathematics they already have in themselves. In addressing these concerns, teachers need to work on understanding their own professional practice and how this practice governs the way in which students carry out their work in the classroom. Even if teachers have a clear sense of how children learn mathematics, they need to build an understanding of how their actions as teachers function in guiding students towards achieving specified learning objectives.