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OCR for page 1
What teachers do in their classroom
makes a difference in what students learn.
Many experts agree with this statement
and suggest that professional develop-
ment of teachers is central to sustaining
and deepening efforts to provide quality
mathematics education for all students
(National Research Council [NRC], 1996;
National Science Foundation, 19981.
However, much professional development
provides teachers with knowledge and
skill but leaves them to make their own
connections with their daily practice in the
classroom. As the nation undertakes
improvement of instruction in mathematics
classrooms, there is a need to access the
best information available and to create
opportunities to learn to use this informa-
tion universally to help teachers improve
their practice. Learning from other
countries can be a valuable source in
efforts to develop a more coherent
approach to mathematics teacher educa-
tion issues in the Unite(1 States.
The release of the Third International
Mathematics and Science Study has
heightened interest in the Japanese
educational system as a resource for those
thinking deeply about teacher preparation
in the United States (Stigler and Hiebert,
19991. Results from international studies
rTrS~
(Beaton et al., 1996; Husen, 1967; McKnight
et al., 1987; Stevenson et al., 1986) consis-
tently show that Japanese students
outperform those in the United States in
most content areas. Evidence from
research (Lewis anti Tsuchi(la, 1997, 1998;
National Center for Education Statistics,
1996; Shimaihara and Sakai, 1995;
Stevenson and Stigler, 1992; Stigler et al.,
1999; Yoshida, 1999) indicates that the
Japanese have a highly (levelope(1 teach-
ing culture where the acquisition of
knowledge of teaching is significantly
unlike that in the Unite(1 States. One
factor in Japanese teacher (levelopment
programs seems to revolve around careful
(resign of lessons where teachers learn
content anti teaching in the process of
developing a common lesson done
through a community of professionals in
coordinated and deliberate effort to
improve instruction. This approach also
serves as a way to mentor those new to
the profession. Recent work in the United
States by researchers in professional
development in mathematics education
(Ball anti Cohen, 1999; NRC, 2001;
Schifter et al., 1999; Shulman, 1992; Stein
et al., 2000;) has begun to buil(1 experi-
ence anti expertise with tools for profes-
sional development based on tasks of
OCR for page 2
teaching such as video, case studies,
teacher reflection on practice, analysis of
student work, and mathematicians'
commentary. Mathematics educators
from the United States and Japan have
much to learn from each other by sharing
their work and current thinking on the
professional development of teachers.
The Mathematical Sciences Education
Board (MSEB) and the U.S. National
Commission on Mathematics Instruction
(USNCMD recognized and took advan-
tage of a unique opportunity to bring
these educators together. Following the
Ninth International Congress on Math-
ematics Education (ICME-9) held July 31-
August 6, 2000, in Makuhari, Japan,
MSEB and USNCMI held a two- and a
half-day workshop on the professional
development of mathematics teachers.
The workshop was able to capitalize on
the presence of mathematics educators
from the United States and Japan attend-
ing {CME-9, using the expertise of the
participants from the two countries to
develop a better, more flexible, and more
useful understanding of the knowledge
that is nee(le(1 to teach well anti of how to
help teachers obtain this knowledge.
The workshop provided an opportunity
to learn about the structure of Japanese
lesson study and enabled mathematics
educators from the Unite(1 States to share
with Japanese colleagues their recent
thinking about some promising approaches
to teacher development in the United
States. Thus, a major focus of the work-
shop was to discuss teachers' opportuni-
ties to learn in both societies, using
teaching practice as a medium for profes-
sional development. The first part of the
workshop a(l(lresse(1 practice by studying
the preparation for anti enactment of an
actual lesson. The secon(1 part of the
workshop addressed practice by consider-
ing the stu(ly of records of teaching,
including videos of classroom lessons and
cases describing teachers and their work.
These proceedings reflect the activities
anti (1iscussion of the workshop using
both print and video to enable others to
share in the workshop experiences.
S T U D Y I N G C LA S S R O O M T E A C H I N G
Representative terms from entire chapter:
mathematics education
