Beliefs and belief changes of two elementary teachers in a problem-centered second-grade, mathematics project

This is a qualitative study which examines the process of two teachers\u27 learning. The teachers changed their beliefs about their role in teaching mathematics, about students\u27 roles in learning mathematics, and about the nature of mathematical activity during their participation in a problem-centered second grade, mathematics project. The teachers in this study were reflective practitioners. The teachers learned as they coped with problems that arose in the course of their practice. Salient to their learning was their establishment of new classroom norms, appropriate problematic student activities, and the alternative interpretations of classroom incidents by the project staff. While the teachers learned in the course of their practice other significant factors influenced them to question their prior taken-for-granted assumptions about teaching and learning. In one teacher\u27s case, her prior experiences with learning mathematics were an initial important factor influencing her to change her practice. Also video-taped clinical interviews of students doing both routine and nonroutine tasks influenced one teacher to question her knowledge of her students\u27 mathematical abilities. The teachers learned through classroom interactions with their students, most importantly, they learned to listen to their students. This enabled the teachers to construct new understandings of how their students learned mathematics. In turn, the teachers changed their teaching of mathematics to fit with this new knowledge of their students. The teachers needed both practical and emotional support as they attempted to change their practice and goals. The teachers participated in support networks which encouraged and rewarded their learning. One teacher, from a culturally distinct community, actively established his own support network among his peers. The teachers changed their beliefs and practices as they saw their realization of this approach to teaching mathematics enhance their values. Through their participation in this project the teachers believed that their students were learning more mathematics than in their former practices and that the emotional well being of their students was enhanced