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Rapid and Profound Mathematics Teacher Change
- Peter Liljedahl
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Changes in Teachers’ Practice
• action research (Jasper & Taube, 2004)• lesson study (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999)• communities of practice (McClain & Cobb,
2004; Wenger, 1998)• collegial discourse about teaching (Lord,
1994)
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Changes in Teachers’ Practice
Conclusions show that with time and continued intervention, support, and collaboration teachers can make significant and robust changes to their practice.
RAPID and PROFOUND48 CASES
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Methodology
FACILITATOR &
researcher
DATA
ANALYSIS • FACILITATOR & researcher
– noticing (Mason, 2002)• DATA COLLECTION
– interviews– school visits– observations– field notes– narratives (Clandinin, 1992)
• DATA ANALYSIS– grounded theoryish (Charmaz, 2006)
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Results
Five Mechanisms of Change1. conceptual change (n = 8)2. accommodating outliers (n=6)3. reification (n=12)4. leading belief change (n=6)5. push-pull rhythm of change (n=16)
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CONCEPTUAL CHANGE
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Conceptual Change – the story of Mary
• elementary school teacher for + 20 years• in recent years become disillusioned
– curriculum as disjoint topics – little connection– students don’t think– traditional teaching
• she doesn’t like being the type of teacher he has become – rejected her teaching
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Conceptual Change – the story of Mary
• attended much pro-d• piloted new textbook
LOOKING FOR A BETTER WAY!
• started her Master’s with SFU– 7 courses– taught remotely
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Conceptual Change – the story of Mary
• re-think how she looked at curriculum:– processes (estimation, communication, reasoning,
problem solving, technology, connections, visualization) as content
– list of topics as context
THIS COMPLETED MARY’S CONCEPTUAL CHANGE
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Conceptual Change – the story of Mary
CONCEPTUAL CHANGEmisconceptions
rejection
replacement
synthesis
misconceptions
rejection
seeking
replacement
Mary’s Change
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ACCOMMODATING OUTLIERS
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Accommodating Outliers – the story of Mitchell
• middle school teacher for 8 years • mathematics is a game with set rules and
very clear outcomes• mathematics is a collection of skills and facts • he sees his job as assuring that each student
learns these skills and facts • students' role is to learn the material • Mitchell is a traditional mathematics teacher
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Accommodating Outliers – the story of Mitchell
• less traditional in other subjects• welcomes professional development
opportunities – "on the right track"– "there are some really fun activities that I
now do with my kids"– "completely pointless"
AVOIDING ACCOMMODATION
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M 2013• district learning team to create numeracy
tasks – 5 meetings– create definition of numeracy
– create/revise tasks pilot test
Accommodating Outliers – the story of Mitchell
CM
M 2013• district learning team to create numeracy
tasks – 5 meetings– create definition of numeracy
– create/revise tasks pilot test
change between 2nd and 3rd meetingACCOMMODATION
Accommodating Outliers – the story of Mitchell
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REIFICATION
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Reification – the story of Danica
• middle school teacher for 13 years• unhappy in her teaching• knows that she is doing many things well
– group work– problem solving– pilot testing new textbook– formative assessment
• BUT it all lacks cohesion
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Reification – the story of Danica
• district learning team to create numeracy tasks (same as Mitchell)– 5 meetings– create definition of numeracy
"Numeracy is the willingness and ability to apply and communicate mathematical understanding and procedures in novel and meaningful problem solving situations."
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Reification – the story of Danica
communication(thinking)
- curriculum- problem solving- assessment- etc.
reified
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Reification – the story of Danica
Reification‘‘the process of giving form to our experiences by producing objects that congeal this experience into thingness’’ (Wenger, 1998)
– teaching lacks “thingness”– communication was something that Danica could
organize her teaching and her thinking about teaching around
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LEADING BELIEF CHANGE
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Leading Belief Change- the story of Phil
• taught grade 6/7 for 5 years• progressive teacher
– group work– projects– problem based learning
• uses very traditional assessment practices
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Leading Belief Change- the story of Phil
• district organized series of three workshops on problem solving– just do it!– assessment– teaching through problem solving
“Evaluation is double edged sword. When you evaluate you show your students what you value. Therefore, make sure you evaluate what you value”
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Leading Belief Change- the story of Phil
beliefs about teaching
beliefs about assessment
beliefs about assessment
beliefs about teaching
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PUSH-PULL RHYTHM OF CHANGE
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Push-Pull Rhythm of Change – the story of Karen
• high-school teacher for 16 years • practice best be described as meticulous • builds her instruction around homework• makes herself available to her students
before school, after school, and at lunch • pride in success with "challenging" students
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M 2013• district learning team to create numeracy
tasks (not same as Mitchell and Danica)– 8 meetings– create definition of numeracy
– create/revise tasks pilot test
Push-Pull Rhythm of Change – the story of Karen
CM
M 2013• district learning team to create numeracy
tasks (not same as Mitchell and Danica)– 8 meetings– create definition of numeracy
– create/revise tasks pilot test
3rd meeting – revolt 4th meeting – excited about changes needed
Push-Pull Rhythm of Change – the story of Karen
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Push-Pull Rhythm of Change – the story of Karen
• Phase 1: exo-spection (x)• Phase 2: eXo-spection (X)• Phase 3: eNdo-spection (N)• Phase 4: endo-spection (n)
XN - 3 teachersxXN - 10 teachersxXNn - 3 teachers
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Conclusion from Research
• not all change is the same• new possibilities within both my practice and
my research• I now question the assumptions upon which
much of the professional growth literature has been predicated → (Liljedahl, in press)
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Conclusion since Research
CHANGE AGENTS• conceptual change• build something
– definition– tasks– rubrics– assessments
• back-up for eXo-section• golden thread – next meeting