Professor Janette Bobis, Professor of Mathematics Education and Director of Research in the Sydney School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney.
Friday 12th April 2019, 13h00, Room A1-065
Title of Talk:
Developing the Conceptual Sophistication for Ambitious Teaching of Mathematics
Abstract:
In this presentation, Janet describes particular pedagogies of enactment (Grossman & McDonald, 2008) embedded in her ITE courses with the intention of helping novice primary teachers “develop the conceptual sophistication needed” (Davis & Simmt, 2006, p. 293) to effectively enact their knowledge for teaching mathematics. Janet presents findings of a study aimed at improving prospective primary teachers’ enactment of targeted practices for teaching mathematics in ambitious ways when opportunities to approximate such practices were provided across university and school settings. Findings reveal that ‘rehearsals’ and ‘co-teaching’ opportunities in a range of designed settings, were particularly effective in supporting the enactment of targeted practices. Janet interpret the affordances of these pedagogies through an enactivist lens and, in so doing, highlight the benefits of applying embodied perspectives to develop a better understanding of learning to teach mathematics.