Collaborative Learning as a Sustainable Structure of Teaching Practice for Supporting Mathematically Highly Able Students

Inclusion of gifted education in teacher education is not common in Sweden or in many other European countries. As a result, many teachers lack knowledge of teaching highly able students. Most teachers do want to learn and develop this area of their teaching but, when teaching schedules are full, little time is available for ongoing professional development. A process in which professional development is intertwined with teachers’ daily work is needed, to ensure sustainable changes of practice. Teachers’ collaborative learning is an activity in which teachers collaboratively and systematically analyze their teaching, with the aim of developing their practice. This paper is based on an ongoing study, which explores how a group of mathematics teachers use principles of such collaborative learning to develop their own knowledge of educating and supporting students highly able in mathematics. This study indicates that collaborative learning provides a promising process for sustainable changes in teaching practice that can in turn provide highly able students with learning opportunities