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The Teacher’s Responsibility in Whole-Class Debriefing of Mathematical Activity

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Abstract

Prompted by recent moves in the United Kingdom to guide teachers’ practices in whole-class, direct interactive teaching, in this article, we offer an opportunity for North American mathematics educators to reflect on possibilities for whole-class teaching of mathematics. We focus particularly on the plenary aspect of lessons—what might be considered the debriefing of mathematical activity—and specifically on the teacher’s responsibility during those sessions, both to his or her students and to the authenticity of the discipline of mathematics. Drawing on data from a Grade-3 classroom and invoking complexity science as a theoretical lens to explore the classroom as a complex learning system, we present implications for teaching in whole-class debriefings of mathematical activity.

Résumé

Dans cet article, en réaction à de récents développements en Grande Bretagne visant à guider la pratique de l’enseignement direct et interactif dans des classes nombreuses, nous souhaitons offrir aux enseignants des mathématiques en Amérique du Nord ‘l’occasion de réfléchir sur les possibilités que représente l’enseignement des mathématiques à des classes pleines. Nous centrons surtout notre attention sur les aspects ‘pléniers’ des leçons — ce que nous pourrions qualifier de débriefing des activités mathématiques — et surtout sur la responsabilité des enseignants au cours de ces sessions, en particulier envers les étudiants et envers l’authenticité qui caractérise la discipline des mathématiques. Notre argumentation se fonde sur des données provenant d’une classe de troisième année, et nous nous servons de la complexité des sciences comme lunette théorique permettant d’explorer la salle de classe comme système complexe d’apprentissage. Nous présentons ensuite certaines implications pour l’enseignement dans le cadre de débriefings de classe pour ce qui est des activités mathématiques.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Calgary, Canada

    Jo Towers

  2. University of Alberta, Canada

    Elaine Simmt

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  1. Jo Towers
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  2. Elaine Simmt
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Towers, J., Simmt, E. The Teacher’s Responsibility in Whole-Class Debriefing of Mathematical Activity. Can J Sci Math Techn 7, 231–255 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1080/14926150709556728

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