The Education and Development of Practising Teachers

Abstract

This chapter reviews Australasian research on the education and development of practising teachers of mathematics. We consider developments in theoretical understandings of professional learning (PL) including conceptualisations of teacher learning and capabilities. Reports of PL programs that have been sites of research are reviewed according to their content foci and the approaches to PL that were adopted. The latter are considered in light of current characterisations of PL. Consideration of ways in which PL programs have been evaluated highlights the difficulties inherent in going beyond teacher self-reports and in linking specific PL programs to outcomes in relation to students’ learning as well as system and policy impacts. In conclusion we present avenues for further research. These include addressing issues of scale and sustainability, assessing the affordances of online delivery of PL, enhancing collaboration between mathematics educators and mathematicians, and better understanding the mechanisms and conditions that contribute to effective PL.