Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Understanding change through a high school mathematics teacher’s journey to inquiry-based teaching

  • Published:
Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article focuses on an experienced high school mathematics teacher who changed her practice without participating in planned interventions aimed at producing this change. It reports on the nature of the teacher’s change from her perspective and an interpretation and understanding of the change from the researcher’s perspective. It illustrates how meaningful change can occur when the process is initiated and rooted in the teacher’s experience based on a tension in self and/or practice that is personal and real to him or her. It discusses three types of change that are possible depending on the level of engagement of the teacher in professional development opportunities: instrumental change, conceptual change, and foundational change.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Burbules, G., & Biesta, N. (2003). Pragmatism and educational research. Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, O. (1999). Inservice teacher development in mathematical problem solving. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 2, 121–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, O. (2001). Understanding high school mathematics teacher growth. In M. van den Heuvel-Panhuizen (Ed.), In Proceedings of the 25th annual meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 2, pp. 233–240). Utrecht, The Netherlands: Utrecht University.

  • Chapman, O. (2002). Belief structure and inservice high school mathematics teachers’ growth. In G. Leder, E. Pehkonen, & G. Torner (Eds.), Beliefs: A hidden variable in mathematics education? (pp. 177–194). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooney, T. J. (2001). Considering the paradoxes, perils, and purposes of conceptualizing teacher development. In F. Lin & T. J. Cooney (Eds.), Making sense of mathematics teacher education (pp. 9–32). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1938/1991). Logic: A theory of inquiry. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

  • Even, R., & Ball, D. L. (Eds.). (2008). The Professional education and development of teachers of mathematics: The 15th ICMI study. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fennema, E., & Nelson, B. (Eds.). (1997). Mathematics teachers in transition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Labov, W. (1982). Speech actions and reactions to personal narratives. In D. Tannen (Ed.), Analyzing discourse: Text and talk (pp. 219–247). Washington, DC: Georgetown University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampert, M., & Ball, D. L. (1998). Teaching, multimedia, and mathematics. Investigations of real practice. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, J. (1994). Researching from the inside in mathematics education: Locating an I-you relationship. In J. P. Ponte & J. F. Matos (Eds.), Proceedings of the 18th meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 1, pp. 176–191). Lisbon: University of Lisbon.

  • Mason, J. (2002). Researching your own practice: The discipline of noticing. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2000). Principles and standards for school mathematics. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Aldershot Hants: Avebury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwab, J. J. (1967). On scientific inquiry. In C. Madden (Ed.), Talks with scientists (pp. 3–24). Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tirosh, D., & Graeber, A. (2003). Challenging and changing mathematics teaching classroom practices. In A. Bishop, M. Clements, C. Kietel, J. Kilpatrick, & F. Leung (Eds.), Second international handbook of mathematics education (pp. 643–688). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tirosh, D., & Wood, T. (Eds.). (2008). International handbook of mathematics teacher education: Vol. 2: Tools and processes in mathematics teacher education. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells, G. (1999). Dialogic inquiry: Towards a sociocultural practice and theory of education. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Olive Chapman

  2. Lester B. Pearson High School, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Brenda Heater

Authors
  1. Olive Chapman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Brenda Heater
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olive Chapman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chapman, O., Heater, B. Understanding change through a high school mathematics teacher’s journey to inquiry-based teaching. J Math Teacher Educ 13, 445–458 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-010-9164-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-010-9164-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation