TEACHING STANDARDS

A COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS

Effective mathematics and science teachers foster the building of communities of learners where mathematics and science are viewed as valuable ways of knowing that connect to other disciplines and stimulate students' disposition to learn.

This standard focuses on the social and intellectual environment that must be in place in the classroom if all students are to succeed in learning mathematics and science and have the opportunities to develop the skills and disposition for lifelong learning. Elements of this standard appear in other standards. They are brought together here to highlight the importance of the community of learners and what teachers do to foster its development.

A community of learners is one in which students develop a sense of purpose and the ability to assume responsibility for learning. For this to occur, students must be given opportunities to participate in:

• setting goals,
• planning activities,
• assessing their work,
• designing the learning environment.

As teachers provide these opportunities they require students to assume responsibility for a significant part of their own learning, the learning of the group, and the functioning of the classroom community. A fundamental aspect of a community of learners is the communication or discourse that takes places. Effective communication requires:

• a foundation of respect and trust among individuals,
• development of the ability to engage in presenting evidence, reasoned argument, and explanation,
• structuring activities so that students are required to explain and justify their understandings and critically assess and challenge the explanation of others.

One of the assumptions of the Pacific standards is that all students should learn mathematics and science and that all are capable of full participation and making meaningful contributions to classroom learning. The nature of the classroom community in which students learn mathematics and science is of critical importance to realizing this assumption. To do this, teachers:

• display and demand a respect for valuing the ideas, activities, and needs of all students,
• give students a significant voice in decisions about the content and context of their work and require students to take responsibility for their own learning and the learning of all members of the classroom community,
• nurture a collaborative approach to the work of the classroom community,
• model and emphasize the methods, habits of mind, and attitudes of inquiry.

Teachers demonstrate a respect for the ideas, activities, and thinking of all students through what they say and do, as well as through the flexibility with which they respond to students' interests, ideas, strengths, and needs. Whether adjusting an activity to reflect cultural background, providing resources for a small group to pursue an interest, or suggesting that an idea is valuable but cannot be pursued at the moment, teachers constantly model what it means to respect and value the views of others. Teacher actions go beyond modeling. They include:

• explicit teaching of respect,
• willingness to confront openly the inevitable times when expressions of disrespect, stereotyping, and prejudice emerge in the classroom.

In promoting the development of learning communities, effective teachers provide students with opportunities to:

• challenge their thinking and that of others for its significance and relevance to the subject,
• build support for their own and other students' improvement,
• become better decision makers,
• learn responsibility to community and self,
• develop the habits of mind, skills, and attitudes appropriate to mathematical and scientific inquiry, including collaboration and cooperation, invention and application, hypothesizing and testing, and ongoing decision making.

Communities of learners do not emerge spontaneously. They require careful support from teachers.