Chapter 14: An Overview of Professional Development

In order for curriculum materials that were written to instantiate the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 1989; hereafter referred to as standards-based curriculum materials) to reach their full potential, teachers need to develop the knowledge and skill to use such materials to engage students in appropriate ways. Hence, the focus of professional development for teachers implementing a standards-based curriculum is to enable teachers to learn mathematics content and pedagogy needed to enact such curricula. A key aspect of supportive professional development (PD) is helping teachers learn to plan and enact instruction around these curricula. Several of the standards-based curricula are problem-centered. In such a problem-centered curriculum, contextualizing the mathematics is key—the mathematics is embedded in situations that may be real-world explorations, fantasy/story situations, or mathematical situations. Inquiry into the situations out of which the mathematics arises requires that teachers learn to orchestrate what we refer to as “inquiry-based instruction.” A problem-centered curriculum is a radical departure from the traditional classroom in which most of us have learned or taught. Teachers will need time and assistance to become familiar with the mathematical understandings and skills that are embedded in the problems. They will also need to learn to use instructional strategies for helping students explicitly articulate these concepts and related skills.