From Text to ‘Lived’ Resources: Mathematics Curriculum Materials and Teacher Development

Présentation Springer

Editors: Ghislaine Gueudet, Birgit Pepin,  Luc Trouche

G. Gueudet, Western Brittany University, France
B. Pepin, Soer-Troendelag University College, Trondheim, Norway
L. Trouche, Institut Français de l'Éducation, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Lyon, France

Description and purpose

Curriculum materials and the interaction with these materials and resources are central in teacher education and professional development. Teachers’ use and learning from text-based materials depend to a large extent on the characteristics of the materials, on the teaching activities in which teachers are engaged, teachers’ beliefs and knowledge, and how these are aligned with the curriculum (Davis & Krajcik, 2005; Remillard, 1999). What kinds of curriculum materials do teachers select and use, and how? How do teachers learn from these materials, and in which ways do they ‘tailor’ them for their use and pupil learning? These factors interact in complex ways, as teachers select, interpret and shape the materials, individually and collaboratively with groups of colleagues. The characteristics of the resources shape teacher activity; analysis of these characteristics informs the preparation of the mathematics for students, and more generally teacher classroom practice and the development of teacher professional knowledge.

Foreword, introduction, and conclusion available online (links below).

Table of contents

Foreword: Rudolf Sträßer, University of Gießen, Germany
Introduction: the editors

Section 1: Teacher resources

The first section of the book focuses on the kinds and nature of resources for mathematics teachers from a practical, methodological and theoretical point of view.  It examines what is, or is not, available for teacher professional activity. It also introduces the question of what kinds of changes are afforded by particular  resources and examines teacher interaction with these resources.
Chap. 1: Jill Adler, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, & King's College, London, UK
          Knowledge resources in and for school mathematics teaching
Chap. 2: Ghislaine Gueudet, Western Brittany University, France & Luc Trouche, National Institute for Pedagogical Research, France
          Teachers’ work with resources: documentational geneses and professional geneses
Chap. 3: Gérard Sensevy, Western Brittany University, France
          Patterns of didactic intentions, thought collective and documentation work
Chap. 4: Maria Alessandra Mariotti & Mirko Maracci, University of Sienna, Italy
          Resources for the teacher from a semiotic mediation perspective
Reaction to section 1: Bill Barton, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Section 2: Text and Curriculum resources

The second section of the book focuses on the characteristics of curriculum materials, in particular how the cultural context influences the materials. It raises questions about the design of curriculum materials, about their integration, appropriation, and transformation by teachers in and for their everyday teaching. Is teachers’  use of resources ‘aligned’ with the use envisioned by curriculum designers? What are the implications for teacher professional development?  It examines the various factors shaping the nature of the resources, their design and their use, and with a specific focus on cultural factors.
Chap. 5: Kenneth Ruthven, University of Cambridge, UK
          Constituting Digital Tools and Materials as Classroom Resources
Chap. 6: Janine Remillard, Graduate School of Education, Philadelphia, USA
          Modes of Engagement: Understanding Teachers’ Transactions with Mathematics Curriculum Resources
Chap. 7: Birgit Pepin, Soer-Troendelag University College, Trondheim, Norway
          Task analysis as ‘Catalytic Tool’ for feedback and teacher learning: Working with teachers on mathematics curriculum materials
Chap. 8: William Schmidt, University of Chicago, USA
          The Cumulative Effects of Middle School Tracking:  How Content Coverage Varies
Chap. 9: Christine Proust, CNRS & University Paris 7, France
          Teachers’ writings and students’ writings’: school material in Mesopotamia
Reaction to section 2: Malcolm Swan, The University of Nottingham, UK.

Section 3: Use of resources

The third section of the book focuses on the use of resources by teachers and students, in-class and out-of-class. It studies the influence of the resources’ characteristics on teacher and student activity. Furthermore, it considers the interactions between the various educational agents, and the implications  of these interactions on the development and design of resources.
Chap. 10: Carolyn Kieran, Denis Tanguay, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada & Armando Solares, Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Mexico
          Researcher-designed resources and their adaptation within classroom teaching practice
Chap. 11: Dominique Forest, Western Brittany University, France & Alain Mercier, National Institute for Pedagogical Research, France
          Classroom video data and resources for teaching: some thoughts on teachers' development
Chap. 12: Sebastien Rezat, University of Gießen, Germany
          Interactions of teachers' and students' use of mathematics textbooks: A study of documentational genesis
Chap. 13: Maria Trigueros & Dolores Lozano, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México
          Teachers teaching mathematics with Enciclomedia
Chap. 14: Paul Drijvers, Freudenthal Institute for Science and Mathematics Education, Utrecht University, Netherlands
          Teachers transforming resources into orchestrations
Reaction to section 3: Luis Radford, Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada

Section 4: Collaborative use

The fourth section of the book focuses on the collaborative aspects of teacher documentation. Teachers are in contact with and work with various groups and communities, and this dimension is particularly considered here.  Concepts are introduced which illuminate the influence of the nature of the groups and communities on teacher documentation work, the particularities of the processes of documentation within collectives, and individual-collective relationships. It focuses on possible roles and interventions of various kinds of collectives in mathematics teacher education.
Chap. 15: Carl Winsløw, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
          A comparative perspective on teacher collaboration: the cases of lesson study in Japan and of multidisciplinary teaching in Denmark
Chap. 16: Ghislaine Gueudet, Western Brittany University, France & Luc Trouche, National Institute for Pedagogical Research, France
          Communities, documents and professional geneses: interrelated stories
Chap. 17: Jana Visnovska, University of Queensland, Australia, Paul Cobb Vanderbilt University, USA & Chrystal Dean Appalachian State University, USA.
          Mathematics teachers as instructional designers: what does it take?
Reaction to section 4: Barbara Jaworski, Loughborough University, UK.

Closing reaction: Deborah Loewenberg Ball, University of Michigan, USA
Conclusions: the editors