Professionalization processes of facilitators in mathematics teachers' professional development: Toward an empirically-based theoretical framework (GIF Grant #I-1426-117.4/2017)

Leading team

Dr. Ronnie Karsenty

Prof. Susanne Prediger (TU Dortmund, Germany)

Prof. Abraham Arcavi

Ph.D. students (Graduated)

Gil Schwartz

Consultants

Dr. Avital Elbaum-Cohen

Summary

This research focused on facilitators’ professionalization processes in the first year of conducting PD courses. Our goal was to capture not only the facilitators’ knowledge growth during their qualification period before they enter their actual job, but mainly the development of their practices and decision-making processes on the job, using a longitudinal collective case study design with a data collection phase of 1.5 years. Data was collected in two PD programs for mathematics teachers, in Israel and in Germany. At each site, facilitators were accompanied from their qualification stage and into the first year on the job of conducting PD courses. The research used various data collection means, including video data from the facilitators’ preparation workshops; video documentation of the PD sessions conducted by the new facilitators; individual journals; questionnaires; and video-based interviews. Comparison of cases within and between the Israeli and German contexts served to identify context-specific and context-independent patterns in the facilitators’ processes of professionalization, and consequently generated a theoretical framework to describe such processes, named ROGI.

Related Papers

  • Karsenty, R., Prediger, S., &Borko, H. (Accepted, 2025). Mapping structural characteristics of preparation and support programs for mathematics PD facilitators. Paper accepted for presentation at the 14th Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME14), to be held in Bozen-Bolzano, Italy in February 2025.

  • Borko, H., Jarry-Shore, M., Schwarts, G., Karsenty, R., Prediger, S., &Rösike K.A. (Accepted, 2025). The Learning to Facilitate Framework: A model for preparing professional development facilitators. Paper accepted for presentation at the 14th Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME14), to be held in Bozen-Bolzano, Italy in February 2025.

  • Pöhler-Friedrich, B., Prediger, S., Schwarts, G., & Karsenty, R. (2024). Learning to leverage teachers’ ideas: facilitators’ growth in moderation practices with simultaneously strong goal focus and participant focus. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-024-09660-4

  • Karsenty, R., Pöhler, B., Schwarts, G., Prediger, S. & Arcavi, A. (2023). Processes of decision-making by mathematics PD facilitators: The role of resources, orientations, goals and identities. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 26, 27–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-021-09518-z.

  • Schwarts, G., Elbaum-Cohen, A., Pöhler, B., Prediger, S., Arcavi, A., & Karsenty, R. (2022). The servants of two discourses: Ways novice facilitators draw on their mathematics teaching experience. Educational Studies in Mathematics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-022-10182-0

  • Schwarts, G., Karsenty R., & Arcavi, A. (2022). Ignoring, upholding, redirecting, provoking: Ways of enacting norms in a video-based professional development. In J. Hodgen, E. Geraniou, G. Bolondi, & F. Ferretti (Eds.), Proceedings of the 12th Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME12) (pp. 3756-4753). Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and ERME. 

  • Schwarts, G., Pöhler, B., Elbaum-Cohen, A., Karsenty, R., Arcavi, A., & Prediger, S. (2021). Novice facilitators’ changes in practices: From launching to managing discussions about mathematics teaching. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2021.100901

  • Schwarts, G., Arcavi, A. & Karsenty R. (2021). Novice facilitators’ participation practices in discussions about issues of mathematics teaching. In M. Inprasitha, N. Changsri, & N. Boonsena, (Eds.), Proceedings of the 44th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 4, pp. 20-28).  PME.

  • Karsenty, R. (2018). Talking about observed practices: Enhancing novice facilitators' proficiency to steer video-based discussions with mathematics teachers. Paper presented at EARLI SIG-11 Conference (Teaching and Teacher Education), University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway, June 2018.

  • Karsenty, R. (2016). Preparing facilitators to conduct video-based professional development for mathematics teachers: Needs, experiences and challenges. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on Educating the Educators, Freiburg, Germany, November 2016.