What Can the Teacher Learn in the Classroom?

Abstract

Our research is concerned with teacher's knowledge, and especially with teacher's processes of learning, in the classroom, from observing and interacting with students' work. In the first part of the paper, we outline the theoretical framework of our study and distinguish it from some other perspectives. We argue for the importance of distinguishing a kind of teacher's knowledge, which we call didactic knowledge. In this paper, we concentrate on a subcategory of this knowledge, namely observational didactic knowledge, which grows from teacher's observation and reflection upon students' mathematical activity in the classroom. In modeling the processes of evolution of this particular knowledge in teachers, we are inspired, among others, by some general aspects of the theory of didactic situations. In the second part of the paper, the model is applied in two case studies of teachers conducting ordinary lessons. In conclusion, we will discuss what seems to be taken into account by teachers as they observe students' activity, and how in-service teacher training can play a role in modifying their knowledge about students' ways of dealing with mathematical problems.KEY WORDS: case study, didactic knowledge, didactique of mathematics, ordinary mathematics lesson, theory of didactic situations, teacher's activity, teacher's knowledge Educational Studies in Mathematics (2005) 59: 205-234

Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education

“…Exercises are a means of training available to the students (Margolinas et al 2005; Illustrative examples in Warfield 2007). Here are two very different examples of this: Example 1: In certain methods, devolution consists of a prerequisite teaching of new knowledge (a lecture), followed by examples and exercises, and followed by the presentation of problems whose autonomous solution by the students constitutes the mathematical situation.…”

Learning from Lessons: studying the structure and construction of mathematics teacher knowledge in Australia, China and Germany

“…Research specifically into teacher in-class learning is a relative silence in the literature. Margolinas, Coulange and Bessot (2005) and Leikin and Zazkis (2010) are exceptions, yet their focus is on what is learned, rather than how this occurs. This project addresses the challenge of making the process of teacher in situ learning visible.…”

Elementary Teachers’ Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics: A Review

“…Three studies (Hill, 2010;Margolinas, Coulange & Bessot, 2005;Bell, Wilson, Higgins & McCoach, 2010) emphasized what factors affect elementary teachers' knowledge for teaching mathematics.…”

“…A study preceding Hill (2010) was conducted by Margolinas, et al (2005). The researchers selected 2 previous studies purposely and used their data.…”