| Summary: | Current reform ideas in mathematics education recommend that instruction focus on
teaching all students to learn and understand mathematics, and make connections within
mathematics and applications of mathematics. Implementation of these ideas requires
teachers to make use of teaching practice that, for most of them, is different from their
previous experience in teaching mathematics. Past attempts to implement lasting change in
education through the legislation of new curriculum have not proven successful. In addition,
professional development opportunities that offer isolated, one-time workshops have also
failed to support teachers working towards change in their teaching practice.
The Intermediate Mathematics Teachers' Inquiry Group (IMTIG), was a
professional development model, designed to support teachers as they worked with
mathematics reform ideas to improve their teaching practice and hence, student learning.
The format of this project incorporated recommendations from other teaching learning
communities, adapted to fit our local context. The study involved the participation of seven
intermediate mathematics teachers and two university participants, who all met regularly
over a period of four months. Teacher learning took place in two contexts: during group
meetings and in individual teachers' classrooms.
The community of support and collaboration that developed within IMTIG was a
major reason for IMTIG's success. Participants valued the regular meetings with colleagues
to discuss new ideas, and share experiences and resources. Group discussions dealt with
issues related to mathematics reform ideas, and assisted teachers as they worked to adapt
and implement IMTIG teaching practice in their classrooms. Upon completion of the
EVITIG project, all participants indicated their willingness to continue using teaching
practice related to mathematics educational reform.
The role of the two university participants within EVITIG was to introduce new ideas
to the group, to provide access to resources, and to help the group maintain a focus on the
goal of improving mathematics teaching to best teach for student understanding. The two
university participants in IMTIG played different roles within the group. One role was to
share relevant resources and present IMTIG teaching practice, and the second role was to
introduce ideas from research and theory and to encourage teacher reflection.
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