The
ongoing professional development of teachers enables them to develop understandings,
skills, and behaviors that enable them to assess, reflect on, and learn
from their teaching and thus improve their practices.
Teaching is a complex set of behaviors that requires constant learning and continual reflection on the whole process. The goal of teacher education is to provide direction on how to most effectively plan and teach mathematics and science. The reflective practice of teaching, a growing sense of self as a teacher, and the continual search for new and better ways to teach and learn help teachers focus as they strive to become more effective.
Effective preservice and inservice experiences provide mathematics and science teachers with opportunities to:
Essentially, being a teacher means developing a sense of self as a teacher of mathematics or science. Such an identity is built upon many different experiences with teaching and learning. It is reinforced by feedback from students, from colleagues who demonstrate professional respect and acceptance, and from a variety of external sources that demonstrate recognition of teaching as a valued profession. Confident mathematics and science teachers exhibit flexibility and comfort with mathematical and scientific knowledge and a commitment to their own professional development within the larger community of mathematics and science educators.
The nature and kinds of teaching experiences that are part of the effective preservice and inservice education of teachers are varied and numerous. For teacher candidates, this involves opportunities to work one-on-one or with small groups of students, which permit them to focus on interviewing or micro-teaching. Preservice teachers have opportunities to work with exemplary teachers. As apprentices, they are supervised by teacher education faculty who know mathematics and science and are mathematics and science teachers themselves. These experiences are part of a sequential program that allows them to be in a variety of classroom settings for a variety of purposes and with increasing levels of responsibility. At least one of these experiences is long-term, under the guidance of a master teacher.
During the first few years, teaching is an intensely focused experience that centers on the students for whom the teacher is responsible and on the teacher's growing sense of self as a teacher. Beginning teachers often seek the advice and guidance of more experienced teachers. Colleagues and supervisors should act as both informal and formal resources for teachers at this stage of their professional development.
Experienced teachers have different needs. They have a general frame that surrounds their picture of teaching and they understand the nature of the learning process on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis throughout the school year. They are now better able to anticipate timing, overall organization and management, and student responses. Their repertoire of instructional methods and techniques has grown, and they often can successfully anticipate what works and does not work in the classroom. They engage in reflection and self-assessment, as well as interactions with colleagues and supervisors to improve their effectiveness. Good teaching ideas emerge during conversations with colleagues and supervisors who know mathematics and science and who have been successful in teaching these disciplines themselves. Colleagues who are knowledgeable about the content and pedagogical issues are valuable resources. An identifying characteristic of professional experienced teachers is a willingness to assist in the growth and improvement of their colleagues, both preservice and inservice.