Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Shifts in the Field of Mathematics Education pp 121–136Cite as

Researching the Role of the Teacher in Creating Socially Productive Classrooms that Facilitate Mathematics Learning

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

The explication by Steve Lerman of a social perspective on teaching and learning informed a classroom based research program including five funded projects. This chapter elaborates Lerman’s perspective, illustrates how it informed each of the projects, and presents a specific lesson to exemplify the key elements of this social perspective. The chapter is a description of ways that aspects of Steve’s 1998 plenary address at the conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, titled “A moment in the zoom of a lens: Towards a discursive psychology of mathematics teaching and learning” influenced a program of classroom based research. There are three themes in particular from that address that informed the research program described in the chapter: the search for a descriptive professional language; defining a role for the teacher; and a focus on the social context of the classroom.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Askew, M., Brown, M., Rhodes, V., Johnson, D., & Wiliam, D. (1997). Effective teachers of numeracy, final report. London: King’s College.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, B. (1996). Pedagogy, symbolic control, and identity: Theory, research, critique. London: Taylor & Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brophy, J. E. (1983). Research on the self-fulfilling prophecy and teacher expectations. Journal of Educational Psychology, 75(5), 631–661.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brousseau, G. (1997). Theory of didactical situations in mathematics 1970–1990 (M. Cooper, N. Balacheff, R. Sutherland, & V. Warfield, Edited and Trans.). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. (French version (1998). Théorie des situations didactiques. [Textes rassemblés et préparés par N. Balacheff, M. Cooper, R. Sutherland, & V. Warfield]. Grenoble: La penséesauvage).

    Google Scholar 

  • Christiansen, B., & Walther, G. (1986). Task and activity. In B. Christiansen, A. G. Howson, & M. Otte (Eds.), Perspectives on mathematics education (pp. 243–307). Dordrecht: Reidel.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, P., & McClain, K. (1999). Supporting teachers’ learning in social and institutional contexts. In Fou-Lai Lin (Ed.), Proceedings of the 1999 international conference on mathematics teacher education (pp. 7–77). Taipei: National Taiwan Normal University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delpit, L. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people’s children. Harvard Educational Review, 58(3), 280–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Education, Employment and Training. (2001). Early years numeracy strategy. http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/eys/num/index.htm

  • Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ernest, P. (1994). Varieties of constructivism: Their metaphors, epistemologies and pedagogical implications. Hiroshima Journal of Mathematics Education, 2, 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inoue, N. (2010). Zen and the art of neriage: Facilitating consensus building in mathematics inquiry lessons through lesson study. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, Retrieved online from http://www.springerlink.com/content/g33022h2k1384461/

  • Jorgensen, R. (2009). Cooperative learning environments. In R. Hunter, B. Bicknell, & T. Burgess (Eds)., Crossing divides (Proceedings of the 32nd conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Vol. 1, pp. 700–703). Sydney: MERGA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerman, S. (1998). A moment in the zoom of a lens: Towards a discursive psychology of mathematics teaching and learning. In A. Olivier & K. Newstead (Eds.), Proceedings of the 22nd conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 1, pp. 66–81). Stellenbosch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton, J. A. (1995). A study of intrinsic motivation in the mathematics classroom: A personal construct approach. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 26(3), 254–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, M. (1995). Reconstructing mathematics pedagogy from a constructivist perspective. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 26, 114–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, P. (1999). Seeking a rationale for particular classroom tasks and activities. In J. M. Truran & K. N. Truran (Eds.), Making the difference. Proceedings of the 21st conference of the Mathematics Educational Research Group of Australasia (pp. 15–29). Adelaide.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, P., Zevenbergen, R., & Mousley, J. (2002). Contexts in mathematics teaching: Snakes or ladders? In B. Barton, K. C. Irwin, M. Pfannkuch, & M. Thomas (Eds.), Mathematics education in the South Pacific (pp. 649–656). Auckland: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, P., Mousley, J., Zevenbergen, R., & Turner Harrison, R. (2003). Being explicit about aspects of mathematics pedagogy. In N. A. Pateman, B. J. Dougherty, & J. T. Zilliox (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2003 joint meeting of PME and PMENA (pp. 267–275). University of Hawai’i, PME.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, P., Mousley, J., & Jorgensen, R. (2009a). Tasks and pedagogies that facilitate mathematical problem solving. In B. Kaur & Association of Mathematics Educators (Eds.), Mathematical problem solving (pp. 17–42). Singapore/Hackensack: UK World Scientific Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, P., Prain, V., Campbell, C., Deed, C., Drane, S., Faulkner, M., McDonough, A., Mornane, A., & Smith, C. (2009b). Trying in the middle years: Students’ perceptions of their aspirations and influences on their efforts. Australian Journal of Education, 5(2), 176–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, P., Clarke, D., & Clarke, B. (2013). Teaching with tasks for effective mathematics learning. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tschannen-Moran, M., Hoy, A., & Hoy, W. (1998). Teaching efficacy: Its meaning and measure. Review of Educational Research, 68(2), 202–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman Eds. and Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, T. (2002). What does it mean to teach mathematics differently? In B. Barton, K. C. Irwin, M. Pfannkuch, & M. Thomas (Eds.), Mathematics education in the South Pacific (pp. 61–71). Auckland: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zevenbergen, R. (1998). Language, mathematics and social disadvantage: A Bourdieuian analysis of cultural capital in mathematics education. In C. Kanes, M. Goos, & E. Warren (Eds.), Teaching mathematics in new times (pp. 716–722). Gold Coast: MERGA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zevenbergen, R. (2000). “Cracking the code” of mathematics: School success as a function of linguistic, social and cultural background. In J. Boaler (Ed.), Multiple perspectives on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 201–223). New York: JAI/Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zevenbergen, P. (2003). Ability grouping in mathematics classrooms: A Bourdieuian analysis. For the Learning of Mathematics, 23(3), 5–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zevenbergen, R., Mousley, J., & Sullivan, P. (2004). Disrupting pedagogic relay in mathematics classrooms: Using open-ended Tasks with Indigenous students. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 8(4), 391–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Peter Sullivan

Authors
  1. Peter Sullivan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Sullivan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nottingham School of Education, Nottingham, United Kingdom

    Peter Gates

  2. Faculty of Education, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, Queensland, Australia

    Robyn Jorgensen (Zevenbergen)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Sullivan, P. (2015). Researching the Role of the Teacher in Creating Socially Productive Classrooms that Facilitate Mathematics Learning. In: Gates, P., Jorgensen (Zevenbergen), R. (eds) Shifts in the Field of Mathematics Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-179-4_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation