Implementing the “Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics”: The Excitement of Learning with Our Students—an Escalator of Mathematical Knowledge

1993 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-319
Author(s):  
Alan R. Hoffer

A teachers of mathematics, we represent mathematics in the schools. It is an honor to have the responsibility to represent the ancient discipline of mathematics. We are also learners, and it is likely that we know and understand only a small percent of the vast universe of mathematical knowledge. The same statement applies, of course, to professional mathematicians. Throughout our lives, certainly our teaching lives, we will continue to learn more mathematics. The authors of the Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (NCTM 1991) use the section “Standards for the Professional Development of Teachers of Mathematics” to address the depth of our understanding of mathematics and the ways in which that understanding affects our teaching. I happened to learn more about mathematics because of a question that a student asked in class. This experience taught me that school-level mathematics has the potential for being a source of exploration and discovery for a professional mathematician. I found that there are many new things to learn and that it is exciting to learn along with my students.

1992 ◽  
Vol 85 (8) ◽  
pp. 656-659
Author(s):  
Margaret A. Farrell

The next four articles in this department address issues related to four of the six standards in the section of the Professional Teaching Standards (NCTM 1991) titled “Standards for the Professional Development of Teachers of Mathematics.” The series will pay particular attention to the ways in which these standards affect the in-service teacher of mathematics, whose ongoing professional development depends. to a large extent, on individual commitment, reflection, and action. We hope that these articles will furnish a basis from which teachers can begin to examine and improve their own classroom instruction.


1992 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 412-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Apple

Although NCTM's Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (1989) and Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (1991) are generating considerable interest, there has been little discussion of their ideological and social grounding and effects. By placing the Standards within the growing conservative movement in education, this paper raises a number of crucial issues about the documents, including the depth of the financial crisis in education and its economic and ideological genesis and results; the nature of inequality in schools; the role of mathematical knowledge in our economy in maintaining these inequalities; the possibilities and limitations of a mathematics curriculum that is more grounded in students' experiences; and the complicated realities of teachers' lives. Without a deeper understanding of these issues, the Standards will be used in ways that largely lend support only to the conservative agenda for educational reform.


1994 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 550-552
Author(s):  
Jeane M. Joyner

The sixth standard in the Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (NCTM 1991) focuses on analyzing and interconnecting teaching and learning. The standard calls for the analysis of teaching and learning to be ongoing by “[o]bserving, listening to, and gathering other information about students to assess what they are learning.” Teachers examine the “[e]ffects of the tasks, discourse, and learning environment on students' mathematical knowledge, skills, and dispositions.”


1995 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 454-458
Author(s):  
Helene J. Sherman ◽  
Thomas Jaeger

The curriculum and evaluation standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 1989) and the Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (NCTM 1991) have served as both stimuli for, and responses to, numerous formal and informal programs, conferences, and conversations calling for educational reform and improvement in mathematics teaching. After all the plans are drawn and all the objectives are written, however, reform is most likely to occur and make a lasting difference when teachers are aware of the need for improvement, have a voice in planning it, and derive a real sense of professional satisfaction from implementing the instructional changes.


1998 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-161
Author(s):  
Glendon W. Blume ◽  
Judith S. Zawojewski ◽  
Edward A. Silver ◽  
Patricia Ann Kenney

Worthwhile mathematical tasks engage the problem solver in sound and significant mathematics, elicit a variety of solution methods, and require mathematical reasoning. Such problems also prompt responses that are rich enough to reveal mathematical understandings. Just as good classroom practice engages students in worthwhile mathematical tasks, sound professional development does the same with teachers. Providing teachers with opportunities to engage in worthwhile mathematical tasks and to analyze the mathematical ideas underlying those tasks promotes the vision of the Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (NCTM 1991).


2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 299-302
Author(s):  
Connie H. Yarema ◽  
Rhonda H. Adams ◽  
Rachel Cagle

Describes a teacher's mathematics exploration in a professional development setting to exemplify the ideas of the Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics.


1998 ◽  
Vol 91 (7) ◽  
pp. 610-614
Author(s):  
Joanna O. Masingila

Most prospective secondary mathematics teachers know quite a bit of mathematics, and they know that they know quite a bit of mathematics. However, they may not be aware that some of their mathematical knowledge is not conceptually deep, connected, or broad.


1996 ◽  
Vol 89 (7) ◽  
pp. 584-587
Author(s):  
Madeleine J. Long

Like a huge pendulum that indiscriminately sweeps aside everything in its path, educational reform sometimes adopts new ideas and approaches without fully understanding their implications for teachers, for programs, and, most important, for students. Too often, educators jump on the bandwagon, forgetting the complexities of educational progress and engaging in either-or thought and decision making.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
FELIPE RUZ ◽  
BETH CHANCE ◽  
ELSA MEDINA ◽  
JOSÉ M. CONTRERAS

Recognizing that mathematics teachers are facing increasing demands in the teaching of probability and statistics (stochastics) at school level, we are interested in analyzing current pre-service teachers’ dispositions about content knowledge and attitudes towards the teaching and learning of stochastics. We implemented a quantitative study for a sample of 269 pre-service Chilean mathematics teachers to determine their understanding of stochastics content, their attitudes towards stochastics and its teaching, and whether these are related. We found weak associations overall, but stronger for some components. We conclude with recommendations based on these results to improve the Chilean teachers’ preparation process (pre-service) and advice that could guide the professional development of teachers (in-service).


1996 ◽  
Vol 89 (6) ◽  
pp. 454-455
Author(s):  
Roberta K. Koss

A teacher's workday is filled with so many tasks—planning and presenting lessons, giving help to individual students, contacting parents, acting as advisors for extracurricular activities, serving on committees, assessing students' work—that adding another responsibility seems impossible. However, professional development is a necessary task that affects all aspects of a teacher's work. The Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (NCTM 1991) calls for teachers to take an active role in their own professional development and lists “reading and discussing ideas presented in professional publications“ (p. 16g) as an activity that will enhance professional growth. The necessity of reading professional journals can be a blessing in disguise because teachers can gain myriad ideas to help with their work. I shall share a few of the ways in which I plan to use the 1996–1997 Mathematics Teacher to help me plan my lessons, prepare student activities, and grow professionally.


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