The International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI)
The Fifteenth ICMI Study
The Professional Education and Development of Teachers of Mathematics
The Discussion Document is now available, providing an overview of the Study's scope and focus, and the call for proposed contributions.
The Study Conference will be held in Brazil 15-21 May 2005.
Study Co-Chairs:
Deborah Loewenberg Ball (USA) and Ruhama Even (Israel)
International Program Committee:
Jo Boaler, USA
Chris Breen, South Africa
Marja van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Netherlands
Frédéric Gourdeau, Canada
Barbara Jaworski, Norway
Gilah Leder, Australia
Shiqi Li, China
Romulo Lins, Brazil (Chair of the Local Organising Committee)
João Filipe Matos, Portugal
Hioshi Murata, Japan
Jarmila Novtona, Czech Republic
Aline Robert, France
Ex officio members:
Bernard Hodgson,
Canada, Secretary-General of ICMI
Hyman Bass, USA, President of ICMI
The International Commission on Mathematical Instruction
The Fifteenth ICMI Study:
The Professional Education and Development of Teachers of Mathematics
The
International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) is pleased to
announce its fifteenth Study, focused on the professional education and
development of mathematics teachers around the world. A Discussion Document with
full details of this ICMI Study can be found on the Study’s web page at
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dball/icmistudy15.html
This announcement coincides with the first stage of the Study – the dissemination of the Discussion Document. The following two stages will be:
a) a Study Conference to be held in Brazil , 15-21 May 2005; and
b) the publication of the Study Volume – a Report of the Study’s achievements, products and results.
The Study focuses on the initial and continuing education of teachers of mathematics and is organized in two main strands, each representing a critical cluster of challenges for teacher education and development:
Strand One: Teacher Preparation Programs and the Early Years of Teaching
This strand of the Study will examine a small set of important questions about the initial preparation and support of teachers in countries around the world, at the preservice stage and into the early years of teaching. These questions will center around aspects, such as, structure of teacher preparation, recruitment and retention, curriculum of teacher preparation (including issues related to diversity and subject matter preparation), early years of teaching, most pressing problems of teacher preparation, and history and change in teacher preparation.
Proposals for contributions to this strand should preferably come from a wide range of countries and should be based on systematically-gathered information and analyses.
Strand Two: Professional learning for and in Practice
This strand of the Study adds substantive focus, in complement to the first, and relates to teachers’ learning across the lifespan, at the beginning of teachers’ learning, during the early years of their work, and later, as they become more experienced. This strand’s central focus is rooted in two related and persistent challenges of teacher education. One problem is the role of experience in learning to teach; a second is the divide between formal knowledge and practice. Both problems lead to the central question of Strand Two: How can teachers learn for practice, in and from practice?
Central questions asked in this strand include: What sorts of learning seem to emerge from the study of practice? In what ways are practices of teaching and learning mathematics made available for study? What kinds of collaborations are practiced in different countries? What kinds of leadership help support teachers’ learning from the practice of mathematics teaching? What are the skills, practices, resources and structures that support teachers’ examination of practice? How does language play a role in learning from practice? What do teachers learn from different opportunities to work on practice?
Call for Contributions
The Study Conference will be a working meeting where every participant will be expected to be active. Participation will be by invitation only. Invitations will be extended based on submitted proposals, and total participation will be limited to approximately 120 people. Although research papers will be part of the program, substantial time will be set aside for direct engagement with artifacts and materials of practice, for critique and deliberation, and for collaborative work on significant problems in the field. With this in mind, proposals can be submitted which include demonstrations of practice; interactive work on common problems; program descriptions; and conceptual work. The Study explicitly welcomes contributions from individuals from a variety of backgrounds. Mathematicians and school practitioners are particularly encouraged to submit proposals for contributions. Participation from countries under-represented in mathematics education research meetings is also encouraged.
The Discussion
Document (see
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dball/icmistudy15.html)
gives full details for submission of proposals in one of three forms (papers,
demonstrations, or interactive work sessions). Submissions should be sent before
October 15, 2004
to the Programme Co-Chairs: Deborah Loewenberg Ball (dball@umich.edu)
and Ruhama Even (ruhama.even@weizmann.ac.il). All inquiries concerning this
Study should also be directed to both co-chairs.
Study Timeline