MANOR – Educating Educators to Work with Practicing Secondary School Mathematics Teachers
Leading team:
- Prof. Ruhama Even
Project team:
- Hasida Bar-Zohar R&D team (1993-2003)
- Tammy Eisenmann (ex-Ph.D. student) R&D team (1993-2003)
- Orly Gottlib R&D team (1993-2003)
- Nilli Hirshfeld R&D team (1993-2003)
- Tova Kvatinsky (ex-Ph.D. student) R&D team (1993-2003)
- Naomi Robinson R&D team (1993-2003)
- Zipora Reznik R&D team (1993-2003)
- Dr. Josephine Shamash R&D team (1993-2003)
- Tali Wallach (ex-Ph.D. student) R&D team (1993-2003)
Brief
A framework to support teacher development at the national level: preparation of teacher educators, development of resource materials, and advancement of teachers’ and teacher educators’ professional development.
The overriding aim of MANOR was to provide a theoretically sound, research-based and practically feasible framework to support teacher development. Teaching in the classroom is much more complicated than a straightforward implementation of a curriculum. It involves choosing wisely among various curriculum materials, designing adequate learning environments, adapting the pace of instruction, conducting discussions, challenging and extending student thinking, and so on. Consequently, in addition to content and curriculum knowledge, the teacher needs quite sophisticated knowledge about mathematics instruction, as well as ability and disposition to use this knowledge in practice. Another important aspect is that professional development for teachers of mathematics should meet teachers’ needs and goals at various stages of their careers, and take into consideration different teacher backgrounds and contexts.
MANOR responded to this need by creating a framework to provide continuous professional development for secondary school mathematics teachers at a national level. To deal with the magnitude of the task MANOR focused first on the preparation of a professional group of teacher educators whose role is to promote teacher learning about the teaching of mathematics; and to accompany this with the development of adequate resource materials for working with teachers. We then added support to local and regional activities with teachers, and finally complemented these components with several other large-scale activities.
The framework includes the following components:
- Preparing and providing continuous support to a professional group of CPD providers. This includes the design and operation of an original preparation program and of a long-term graduate forum, the conduction of bi-annual national conferences, the preparation of resource materials, and the construction of an interactive web site for CPD providers.
- Initiating, supporting and counseling to local and regional professional development programs and activities. This includes assistance in locating staff, guidance and academic counseling in designing activities for in-service secondary school teachers in the region and in local schools, and providing exemplars of courses and activities.
- Developing professional teachers’ community. This includes the conduction of national annual conferences for teachers, and the construction and operation of an interactive web site for teachers.
- Conducting research and disseminating knowledge. This includes research and dissemination of knowledge on teachers’ and CPD providers’ knowledge, learning and professional development, and the preparation of documents to assist decision-makers in the educational system.
The research accompanied this work centered on studying the nature of the practice of educators of practicing mathematics teachers, the identification and examination of the kinds of development that are significant in and for practice, aspects of curriculum design for the preparation of educators of practicing mathematics teachers, and problems likely to be encountered and ways of addressing them. Using MANOR as an illustrative case study the findings inform how difficulties underlying the problem of developing educators for practicing teachers might be addressed in a practical setting, introducing the construct of knowtice (a combination of knowledge and practice) as a lens to capture the essence of what educators need to learn and develop.
Further reading:
- Even, R. (1999). The development of teacher-leaders and in-service teacher educators. Journal for Mathematics Teacher Education, 2, 3-24.
- Even, R. (1999). Integrating academic and practical knowledge in a teacher leaders’ development program. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 38, 235-252.
- Hofstein, A. & Even, R. (2001). Developing chemistry and mathematics teacher leaders in Israel. In: C. R. Nesbit, J. D. Wallace, D. K. Pugalee, A-C. Miller, & W. J. DiBiase (Eds.), Developing teacher leaders in science and mathematics: The role of professional development (pp. 189-208). Columbus, OH: ERIC Center for Mathematics, Science and Environmental Education.
- Even, R., Robinson, N., & Carmeli, M. (2003). The work of providers of professional development for teachers of mathematics: Two case studies of experienced practitioners. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 1(2), 227-249.
- Even, R. (2005). Integrating knowledge and practice at MANOR in the development of providers of professional development for teachers. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 8(4), 343-357.
- Even, R. (2008). Facing the challenge of educating educators to work with practicing mathematics teachers. In B. Jaworski & T. Wood (Eds.), The international handbook of mathematics teacher education: The mathematics teacher educator as a developing professional (pp. 57-73). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense.
- Even, R. (2012). The education of teacher educators. In N. M. Seel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning (pp. 1073-1075). Springer.
- Even, R. & Krainer, K. (in press). Education of mathematics teacher educators. In S. Lerman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education. Springer.
Hebrew Publications:
- Series Innovator and Chief Editor of the Manor Resource File Series – research-, theory- and practice-based materials for use by mathematics teacher educators and providers of professional development.
- Hirshfeld, N., Robinson, N., Radai, O., & Even, R. (1996). Resource File: Algebra. Rehovot, Israel: MANOR, Weizmann Institute of Science.
- Even, R., Gottlib, O., & Hirshfeld, N. (Eds.) (1998). Resource File: Functions. Rehovot: MANOR, Weizmann Institute of Science.
- Shamash, J. (1998). Resource File: π. Rehovot: MANOR, Weizmann Institute of Science.
- Hirshfeld, N. & Robinson, N. (2001). Resource File: Teaching mathematics in heterogeneous classes. Rehovot, Israel: MANOR, Weizmann Institute of Science.
- Gottlib, O., Shamash, J. & Dreyfus, T. (2003). Resource File: Limits. Rehovot: MANOR, Weizmann Institute of Science.
- Even, R., et al. (2001). Position paper on the advancement of junior-high mathematics teaching. Rehovot, Israel: MANOR, Weizmann Institute of Science.