Teachers' attention to student thinking, mathematical content and teachers' role in a professional learning community

Abstract

The past decade has witnessed increased efforts in studying what mathematics teachers do to improve their teaching. This study builds on and contributes to the research on collective learning in professional learning communities. It aims to uncover the teachers’ attention to different aspects related to their work and how these have been developed during one year of collaboration. The focus is on teachers’ norms and their attention to student thinking, mathematical content and the teachers’ role. By videotaping teacher’s participation in the Boost for Mathematics project (Matematiklyftet) five cycles of collective planning and reflection are analysed. The findings indicate a shift in the teacher groups’ attention from their role as an organiser to the mathematical content and student thinking.