Technology Integration in Secondary School Mathematics: The Development of Teachers’ Professional Identities

Abstract

This chapter reports on research into the impact of digital technologies on Australian mathematics teachers’ classroom practice. The aim of the study was to identify and analyse individual and contextual factors influencing secondary mathematics teachers’ use of technology, and compare ways in which these factors come together to shape teachers’ pedagogical identities. The first section of the chapter examines the teacher’s role in terms of their pedagogical identities as users of technology, and introduces two theoretical frameworks for investigating trajectories of identity development. One framework classifies ways in which technology can change teaching and learning roles and mathematical practices. The other is concerned with teacher learning and development, and explains why teachers might embrace or resist technology-related change. The sections that follow provide case studies of two beginning teachers of secondary school mathematics who were integrating digital technologies into their classroom practice. Analysis of these case studies highlights issues related to identity development and demonstrates that identity trajectories are neither random nor fully determined, but instead are constrained by person-environment relationships.