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Continuing Teacher Education : Opportunities, Trends, Postures and Advices

Mathieu Thibault

University of Quebec in Outaouais, Canada

November 16th

Link to access the slideshow : �monurl.ca/cicmethibault

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Plan :

Opportunities for continuing teacher education
Trends in research related to continuing education in mathematics education
Postures of trainers and trainees
My position as a researcher-trainer
Doctoral research: research-training method
Humble advices regarding training and professional development
Opening question

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Opportunities for continuing teacher education

Initiatives in the 20th century took the form of special projects with a small number of teachers, followed by large-scale program initiatives to reach more mathematics teachers (English et al., 2002).
Various possibilities: courses, programs, shared experiences, teacher-researcher posture, action research, and collaborative research (Bednarz et al., 2011).
19 ways for high school mathematics teachers to share and reflect on their teaching: analysis of teacher videos, observation of colleagues, role-playing simulation, writing a logbook, attending conferences, reading scientific or specialized journals, etc. (Debien, 2010).
Distance learning (Ponte, 2010) or establishing a community of practice (Anthony, 2014).
Importance of fostering interaction and sharing of experiences among teachers, which requires relationships of trust (Sztajn et al., 2010).

Despite the fact that these possibilities are increasingly diversified, in-service teacher training remains the forgotten field of educational policies (Maulini et al., 2015).

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In this age, there are several possibilities for continuing teacher education. There are possibilities managed by institutions and organizations (e.g., courses, conferences, and reading of scientific or specialized journals), but also possible collaborations with fellow teachers (sharing experiences, observing classroom sessions) or getting involved with researchers in participatory research (action research, collaborative research, etc.).

*The particular appeal of these in-service approaches should be noted in the current circumstances of the pandemic (COVID-19), where teachers from around the world are using distance education, raising a need to share their experience and questioning in a community of practice that sometimes takes the (informal) form of professional groups on social networks.

These researchers (Sztajn et al., 2010) discuss factors that facilitate the development of trust, i.e., characteristics of the trainer (through flexibility and attitudes toward teachers), characteristics of the project (based on time and resources available to teachers, and then ideas that can be applied to the classroom), and the school-university relationship.

According to Wenger (1998), a community of practice is formed by people who have chosen to come together and interact over a period of time to learn from each other by sharing difficulties, experiences, resources and good practices in a particular area of their professional practice, with the aim of deepening their knowledge related to their professional practice. Since this type of in-service approach brings teachers together to share their teaching, it seems important to provide a context that can foster interactions as Sanchez (2011) argues.

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Trends in research related to continuing education in mathematics education

Studies used to focus on students, but there is a growing interest in teachers and teacher education (Jaworski, 2011).
Evolution from research on teachers, to research from teachers, to research with teachers (Bednarz et al., 2011).
Four trends in work with teachers: teachers' mathematical knowledge; teachers' knowledge of mathematics teaching; teachers' beliefs and conceptions; teachers' practices (Ponte & Chapman, 2006).
Research-training (Bednarz & Proulx, 2010).
Teacher change (English et al., 2002) : providing teachers with opportunities to develop their own knowledge and skills; responding to issues that concern them; recognizing that the process of change takes a long time; constantly adjusting to their needs.

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These researchers (Ponte & Chapman, 2006) note that work often presents teachers from a deficit perspective where they are singled out for their lack of knowledge: "image of the teacher is that of a professional with deficient knowledge" (Ponte & Chapman, 2006, p. 486). It rather seems important to reckon the hard work of teachers, by adopting a positive/constructive perspective of their work.

The importance of the hyphen in research-training, not so that researchers and practitioners exchange roles, but rather so that research and training are interrelated, each retaining its specificity while enriching the other (Marcel, 1999).

Over the last few decades, English et al. (2002) have also observed a trend in research, but this time on teacher change and the development of research methods to study these changes. They outline four characteristics of what they call effective models of teacher change: providing teachers with opportunities to develop their own knowledge and skills, responding to issues that concern them, recognizing that the process of change takes a long time, and then constantly adjusting to their needs.

To observe changes in teachers, other studies look at teachers' attitudes as well as their resistance to change. For example, there are several types of attitudes and beliefs (Liljedahl & Oesterle, 2014) and it seems that a teacher's negative attitudes towards mathematics can interfere with their learning and professional development.

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Postures of trainers and trainees

Training through didactics rather than at didactics (Lajoie & Saboya, 2013).
A trainer can move from one posture to another, posing various professional gestures (Jorro, 2016; Marchand et al., under press; Pana-Martin, 2015).
Teacher adopts a multiple entity in continuing education: teacher-mathematician, teacher-didactician-pedagogue, and teacher-teacher (Squalli, 2015).
Teachers who participate in studies can be considered students, participants, or partners (Jaworski, 1999).

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Training through didactics (by bringing the trainees to think about learning and teaching mathematics, in particular by working on situations) rather than training at didactics (where the trainee would be put in contact with didactic theories and concepts)

Posture of translator, mediator, tracker or regulator, ... through gestures of planning, institutionalization, connection, ...

Teacher-mathematician: solving mathematical problems, formulating problems, analyzing the solution to a problem. These activities can be carried out for their own sake, such as solving problems for their own pleasure or as part of a developmental activity. They can also be a component of a larger teaching activity, such as solving various problems to analyze their learning potential for students.

Teacher-didactician-pedagogue: a reflective practitioner of mathematics teaching and learning. The mathematics teacher is a major user of mathematics didactics and pedagogy, sometimes indirectly since the resources he or she uses are often full of didactics and pedagogy (i.e., textbooks and writings in professional journals).

Teacher-teacher: a teacher who exercises his profession under a set of constraints and who tries to invest the room for manoeuvre that he has. In this teaching posture that he naturally adopts in training activities, he will tend to expect to develop knowledge ready to be used in his teaching practice: practical knowledge.

Jaworski's (1999) distinction of these roles can be associated with the work of Bednarz et al. (2011) mentioned before: research on teachers refers to a posture of the trainee as a student, research from teachers refers to a posture of the trainee as a participant, and research with teachers refers to a posture of the trainee as a partner. The posture that we consider attributing to the trainees is therefore linked to the research method. For example, it is usually in participatory research such as collaborative research that the trainee has the opportunity to adopt a partner or even co-researcher posture (Bednarz, 2013).

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My position as a researcher-trainer

Teachers demonstrate didactic agentivity (Martin et al., 2021), which is quite remarkable because they exercise their agency with the intention of enriching the learning opportunities available to their students. In this way, these individuals choose to become agents of change in their own environment.
My positioning: to conduct teacher-based research (Bednarz et al., 2011), where the trainee has a posture of participant (Jaworski, 1999) and the trainer offers himself (Proulx, 2011) by training him through didactics (Lajoie & Saboya, 2013) and assuming his various trainer postures (Jorro, 2016; Pana-Martin, 2015) as well as those of the trainees (Squalli, 2015), all the while being sensitive to the tensions that might arise.

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Doctoral research: research-training method

In a perspective aiming to take into account both research and training, the research-training method (Bednarz & Proulx, 2010) has proven to be relevant.
This method leads to perceive research and training as two interrelated poles that preserve their specificity while enriching each other (Marcel, 1999).
Flexible training sessions allowed me to exchange with 5 teachers and 2 consultants/advisors in high school mathematics, recruited for the diversity and richness of their expertise.
I used a variety of data collection tools in the preliminary and final individual interviews and in the 5 group work meetings.
This analysis allowed me to identify and understand 17 training issues as outcomes (Thibault, 2021).

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Humble advices regarding training and professional development (in mathematics)

Based on the results of my thesis (Thibault, 2021), here are some advices:

Consider the strong link between a teaching issue and a training issue: �If an element is important to consider in organizing teaching, it could naturally be an important element to address in training.
Important challenge to emphasize: �Search for balance between training issues related to the trainer's intentions and respect for the trainees' desires.
Experiment with a technological tool to highlight its potential for teaching.
Take advantage of the complementarity of technological tools to promote the teaching of mathematics.
Using coding to support the teaching of mathematics.

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Experimenting technological tools individually and analyzing them collectively thus promotes appropriation by the trainees. On the trainer's side, however, it is not always easy to have the trainees experiment with a technological tool in order to offer a rich experience that encourages questioning, discussion and follow-up.

Indeed, this issue related to the complementarity of technological tools seems important, in a context where there is a multitude of technological tools and the teacher wants to use those that support the teaching according to his/her intentions. To achieve this, it is possible to use technological tools in a thoughtful and strategic progression if we manage to take into account their particularities. There is therefore an interest in exploring several technological tools in a training context, because the analysis of the limitations of one makes it possible to appreciate the contributions of the other.

Trainees expressed the need to know more about coding/programming and to be convinced of its relevance to mathematics’ teaching.

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Opening question

Through continuing education initiatives, how to better link research community, training community and teaching community, each maintaining their specificity while enriching the others?

Teaching community

Research community

Training community

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Continuing Teacher Education : Opportunities, Trends, Postures and Advices

Thank you for your attention.

Mathieu Thibault

mathieu.thibault@uqo.ca

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mathieu-Thibault

Link to access the slideshow : monurl.ca/cicmethibault

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References (1/3)

Anthony, G. (2014). Teacher supply and retention in mathematics education. In S. Lerman (Ed), Encyclopedia of mathematics education (p. 592‑593). Dordrecht: Springer.

Bednarz, N. (2013). Regarder ensemble autrement : ancrage et développement des recherches collaboratives en éducation au Québec. In N. Bednarz (Ed), Recherche collaborative et pratique enseignante : regarder ensemble autrement (p. 13‑29). Paris: L’Harmattan.

Bednarz, N., Fiorentini, D. & Huang, R. (2011). Experiences in different countries in the professional development of mathematics teachers. In N. Bednarz, D. Fiorentini & R. Huang (Eds), International approaches to professional development for mathematics teachers (p. ix‑xviii). Ottawa: Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa.

Bednarz, N. & Proulx, J. (2010). Développement professionnel des enseignants en mathématiques. Éducation & formation, 293, 21‑36.

Debien, J. (2010). Répertorier les modalités favorisant une démarche de développement professionnel chez les enseignants de mathématique de niveau secondaire (Master thesis). Université du Québec à Montréal.

English, L. D., Jones, G. A., Lesh, R. A., Tirosh, D. & Bartolini Bussi, M. (2002). Future issues and directions in international mathematics education research. In L. D. English (Ed), Handbook of international research in mathematics education (p. 787‑812). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Jaworski, B. (1999). Mathematics teacher education research and development: The involvement of teachers. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 2(2), 117‑119.

Jaworski, B. (2011). Situating mathematics teacher education in a global context. In N. Bednarz, D. Fiorentini & R. Huang (Eds), International approaches to professional development for mathematics teachers (p. 2‑50). Ottawa: Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa.

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References (2/3)

Jorro, A. (2016). Postures et gestes professionnels de formateurs dans l’accompagnement professionnel d’enseignants du premier degré. eJournal de la recherche sur l’intervention en éducation physique et Sport, 38, 114-132.

Lajoie, C. & Saboya, M. (2013). La recherche en didactique mise à profit dans la formation à l’enseignement des mathématiques: le cas du cours « Raisonnement proportionnel et concepts associés » à l’Université du Québec à Montréal. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 13(1), 49-69.

Liljedahl, P. & Oesterle, S. (2014). Teacher beliefs, attitudes, and self-efficacy in mathematics education. In S. Lerman (Ed), Encyclopedia of mathematics education (p. 583‑586). Dordrecht: Springer.

Marcel, J.-F. (1999). La démarche de recherche-formation : propositions pour un trait d’union entre la recherche et la formation dans le cadre de la formation continue des enseignants. Recherche et formation, 32, 89‑100.

Marchand, P., Martin, V., Thibault, M. & Bisson, C. (under press). Postures de personnes formatrices exploitant les jeux de rôles comme dispositif de formation à l’enseignement des mathématiques : analyse de récits de pratiques, Annales de didactique et de sciences cognitives, 26 pages.

Martin, V., Héroux, S., Homier, M. & Thibault, M. (2021). L’analyse de tâches probabilistes proposées dans des cahiers d’apprentissage destinés à l’enseignement-apprentissage des mathématiques au primaire au Québec : exemplification de tâches inscrites dans l’approche fréquentielle, Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 21(1), 145-165.

Maulini, O., Desjardins, J., Étienne, R., Guibert, P. & Paquay, L. (2015). À qui profite la formation continue des enseignants ? Louvain-la-Neuve: De Boeck Supérieur.

Pana-Martin, F. (2015). Les gestes professionnels des formateurs d’enseignants en situation d’accompagnement individualisé (Doctoral thesis). CNAM.

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Ponte, J. P. (2010). Mathematics teachers’ professional development and identity in a distance education setting. In G. Anthony & B. Grevholm (Eds), Teachers of mathematics: Recruitment and retention, professional development and identity (p. 145‑155). Trykkeriet: Agder University Press.

Ponte, J. P. & Chapman, O. (2006). Mathematics teachers’ knowledge and practices. In A. Gutiérrez & P. Boero (Eds), Handbook of Research on the Psychology of Mathematics Education (p. 461‑494). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Proulx, J. (2011). Secondary teachers’ professional development through the exploration of school mathematics. In N. Bednarz, D. Fiorentini & R. Huang (Eds), International approaches to professional development for mathematics teachers (p. 88‑97). Ottawa: Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa.

Sanchez, M. (2011). Dialogue among in-service teachers in an Internet-based mathematics education program. In N. Bednarz, D. Fiorentini & R. Huang (Eds), International approaches to professional development for mathematics teachers (p. 98‑107). Ottawa: Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa.

Squalli, H. (2015). Impliquer les professionnels dans leur formation: un journal de bord en résolution de problèmes mathématiques. In O. Maulini, J. Desjardins, R. Etienne, P. Guibert & L. Paquay (Eds), À qui profite la formation continue des enseignants ? (p. 94-106). De Boeck.

Sztajn, P., Hackenberg, A., White, D. Y. & Allexsaht-Snider, M. (2010). Developing trusting relations in the in-service education of elementary mathematics teachers. In G. Anthony & B. Grevholm (Eds), Teachers of mathematics: Recruitment and retention, professional development and identity (p. 167‑175). Trykkeriet: Agder University Press.

Thibault, M. (2021). Recherche-formation sur l’enseignement des probabilités du secondaire avec des outils technologiques : enjeux de formation (Doctoral thesis). Université du Québec à Montréal.

Wenger, É. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge University Press.

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