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Math Teachers' Circles: The Effects of a Professional Development Community on Mathematics Teachers' Identities

Hendrickson, Katie A.
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6936-2665
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1458351418

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Curriculum and Instruction Mathematics Education (Education).
Math Teachers’ Circles are content-focused professional development for K–12 mathematics teachers that engage teachers and mathematicians in intensive, collaborative problem solving. Typically, Math Teachers’ Circles begin with a weeklong summer immersion workshop. This study explored the effects of participation in such professional development on elementary and middle school teachers’ mathematical identities, their mathematics teaching identities, and the interaction of these identities. This investigation used an explanatory multiple-case study methodology. Extreme cases were identified from first-time participants at three Math Teachers’ Circle sites across the United States. Shifts in these teachers’ identities were explored through open-ended interviews, pre- and post-workshop surveys, and written reflections. Teachers’ identities were understood as the extent to which the teachers’ personal identities aligned with the normative identity of the Math Teachers’ Circle. The teachers’ mathematical identities evolved most significantly as a result of their participation. During the immersion workshop, the teachers found that perseverance and collaboration assisted in their success at solving challenging and open-ended mathematics problems, and their confidence and motivation increased over the week. As a result, teachers’ sense of self, including mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy, became stronger, and their understanding of the nature of mathematics evolved to include patterns, connections, and open-ended problems. The immersion workshop also changed teachers’ perceptions of effective mathematics pedagogy. The teachers in this study found that collaborating and struggling through nonroutine problems was useful to their understanding of the problems and of teaching and learning mathematics. The teachers intended to use similar problems and pedagogy in their classes. However, the teachers’ perceptions of their teaching abilities remained relatively stable after the immersion workshop. This study found that teachers’ experiences doing mathematics are influential to their mathematics teaching identities. Thus, teachers’ active participation in the Math Teachers’ Circle immersion workshops, through which they became mathematics learners, was beneficial to their growth as teachers. These findings suggest that the role of identity may be critical to understanding the ways in which teachers learn from professional development and enact new practices in the classroom. This study also suggests that teachers’ experiences engaging with content as learners have implications for their teaching.
Robert Klein (Advisor)
Gregory Foley (Committee Member)
Jeff Connor (Committee Member)
Courtney Koestler (Committee Member)
350 p.
Education; Inservice Training; Mathematics Education; Teaching
mathematics identity; mathematical identity; teacher professional development; Math Teachers Circles; teacher professional identity; productive disposition; teacher identity; professional development

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hendrickson, K. A. (2016). Math Teachers' Circles: The Effects of a Professional Development Community on Mathematics Teachers' Identities [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1458351418

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hendrickson, Katie. Math Teachers' Circles: The Effects of a Professional Development Community on Mathematics Teachers' Identities. 2016. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1458351418.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hendrickson, Katie. "Math Teachers' Circles: The Effects of a Professional Development Community on Mathematics Teachers' Identities." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1458351418

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1458351418
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© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.