What is effective mathematics teaching? This book represents the first purposeful cross-cultural collection of studies to answer this question from teachers’ perspectives. It focuses particularly on how teachers view effective teaching of mathematics. Teachers’ voices are heard and celebrated throughout the studies reported in this volume. These studies are drawn from many parts of the world representing both Eastern and Western cultural traditions. The editors and authors have deliberately included the views of teachers and educators from different cultural backgrounds, taking into account that beliefs on effective mathematics teaching and its features are highly influenced by one’s own culture. The book will provide readers and scholars with the stimulus to take the ideas presented and expand on them in ways that help improve mathematics education for children, teachers and researchers in both the East and the West.

This guide's main audience will be students in educational settings, including school, further education and university, together with their teachers and lecturers. However, several sections will also be useful to anyone who has some difficulty in remembering everyday things, such as names, telephone numbers and shopping lists.

Addressing fundamental issues in establishing a framework for effective mathematics teaching, the papers provide current research for mathematics instructors and suggestions for future research. Topics discussed include: teaching for higher-order thinking; pedagogical expertise; content determinants; computer usage; cross-cultural studies; and professional and research agendas.

Teachers' instructional practices are greatly shaped by their own learning experiences as students in K-12 and college classrooms, which for most teachers was traditional, teacher-centered instruction. One of the challenges facing mathematics education reform is that, traditional teaching is in contrast to reform student-centered instruction. If teachers learn from their experiences as mathematics students, mathematics teacher educators are encouraged to model practices they would like teachers to use. In this study I examined the implications of instructor modeling in mathematics teacher education courses. More specifically, I investigated what practicing teachers gained from mathematics teacher educators' modeling in mathematics teacher education courses. My questions were: (1) What do mathematics teacher educators believe they model about effective instructional practice? (2) What do practicing teachers notice about the mathematics teacher educators' pedagogy and identify as effective mathematics teaching? (3) In what ways do these perspectives align in mathematics courses for practicing teachers? I drew upon three-step-design methodology with stimulated recall interviews and complementary accounts methodology to explicate three mathematics teacher educators' reports of the ways they model teaching practice. I utilized these methodologies to analyze the researcher's, and the practicing teachers' perspectives on the mathematics teacher educators' instruction. In general the mathematics teacher educators and practicing teachers reported that the mathematics teacher educator modeled student-centered instruction as conveyed in the NCTM Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (1991), but also facets of the collaborative work of teachers outside of the classroom. This work outside of the classroom might include teachers collaboratively planning instruction, reflecting on practice, creating and reflecting on new practices, and supporting one another's professional growth. This research informs the body of knowledge about teaching the practice of teaching mathematics in two ways. First, it highlights how explicit discussion about mathematics teaching and implicit modeling of instruction supports practicing teachers' noticing of the instruction they experience. And second, this research points to how engaging in facets of the teaching profession that take place outside of their interactions with students has the potential to foster the enculturation of teachers into a professional learning community of mathematics teachers.

Research in mathematics teacher education as a distinctive field of inquiry has grown substantially over the past 10-15 years. Within this field there is emerging interest in how mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) themselves learn and develop. Until recently there were few published studies on this topic, and the processes by which mathematics teacher educators learn, and the forms of knowledge they require for effective practice, had not been systematically investigated. However, researchers in mathematics education are now beginning to investigate the development of MTE expertise and associated issues. This volume draws on the latest research and thinking in this area is therefore timely to stimulate future development and directions. It will survey the emerging field of inquiry in mathematics education, combining the work of established scholars with perspectives of newcomers to the field, with the aim of influencing development of the field, invite cross-cultural comparisons in becoming a mathematics teacher educator by highlighting issues in the development of MTEs in different countries, and examine the roles of both mathematics educators and mathematicians in preparing future teachers of mathematics. The primary audience will be university-based mathematics teacher educators and MTE researchers, and postgraduate research students who are seeking academic careers as MTEs. Additional interest may come from teacher educators in disciplines other than mathematics, and education policy makers responsible for accreditation and quality control of initial teacher education programs.

Teachers' instructional practices are greatly shaped by their own learning experiences as students in K-12 and college classrooms, which for most teachers was traditional, teacher-centered instruction. One of the challenges facing mathematics education reform is that, traditional teaching is in contrast to reform student-centered instruction. If teachers learn from their experiences as mathematics students, mathematics teacher educators are encouraged to model practices they would like teachers to use. In this study I examined the implications of instructor modeling in mathematics teacher education courses. More specifically, I investigated what practicing teachers gained from mathematics teacher educators' modeling in mathematics teacher education courses. My questions were: (1) What do mathematics teacher educators believe they model about effective instructional practice? (2) What do practicing teachers notice about the mathematics teacher educators' pedagogy and identify as effective mathematics teaching? (3) In what ways do these perspectives align in mathematics courses for practicing teachers? I drew upon three-step-design methodology with stimulated recall interviews and complementary accounts methodology to explicate three mathematics teacher educators' reports of the ways they model teaching practice. I utilized these methodologies to analyze the researcher's, and the practicing teachers' perspectives on the mathematics teacher educators' instruction. In general the mathematics teacher educators and practicing teachers reported that the mathematics teacher educator modeled student-centered instruction as conveyed in the NCTM Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (1991), but also facets of the collaborative work of teachers outside of the classroom. This work outside of the classroom might include teachers collaboratively planning instruction, reflecting on practice, creating and reflecting on new practices, and supporting one another's professional growth. This research informs the body of knowledge about teaching the practice of teaching mathematics in two ways. First, it highlights how explicit discussion about mathematics teaching and implicit modeling of instruction supports practicing teachers' noticing of the instruction they experience. And second, this research points to how engaging in facets of the teaching profession that take place outside of their interactions with students has the potential to foster the enculturation of teachers into a professional learning community of mathematics teachers.

Currently there is substantial exchange and communication between academic communities around the world as researchers endeavour to discover why so many children 'fail' at a subject that society deems crucial for future economic survival. This book charts current thinking and trends in teacher education around the world, and looks critically at the inservice education of maths teachers. The contributors explore the processes , practices and issues in teacher education projects in ten countries and these are then discussed and related to current philosophies of teacher education. The book provides an insight into the successes and shortcomings of many different approaches to maths education.