Professional development for out-of-field post-primary teachers of mathematics: an analysis of the impact of mathematics specific pedagogy training

Abstract

Research shows that teachers influence students’ attitudes towards; performance in; and perceptions of a subject. Hence, the need to improve the teaching and learning of many curricular subjects has been well documented for many years. This paper focusses on efforts made to develop competence among out-of-field teachers of mathematics and evaluates the impact of one component of a continuous professional development (CPD) programme on teachers’ self-efficacy and self-reported teaching styles. As part of this CPD programme, teachers engaged in a series of subject-specific pedagogy workshops and while classroom observations were not feasible they did complete pre- and post-workshop questionnaires to determine the impact that these workshops had on their mathematics teaching efficacy and their reported approach to teaching, both of which researchers consider to be key to effective teaching. Analysis of the quantitative data showed that the workshops led to statistically significant improvements in mathematics teaching efficacy among participants, while analysis of the qualitative data highlighted a shift from procedural or teacher-led approaches to more student-centred approaches that focussed on developing understanding. As such the programme was deemed to have a positive effect on the effectiveness of these teachers.

Keywords:

• Out-of-field teaching
• mathematics teaching efficacy
• continuous professional development
• teaching styles
• teacher effectiveness

Notes

1 In 2008 a new mathematics curriculum was introduced in Irish post-primary schools which aimed to focus more on students’ understanding of mathematical concepts and abilities to problem solve as opposed to the former curriculum focus on procedural skills and rote learning.

2 The Bologna process, which was developed in 1999 and is now used by 45 countries, is a standardized accreditation process for higher education. It was put in place so that countries had a mechanism to relate national frameworks to each other allowing for international transparency, international recognition of awards and international mobility of learners and graduates. The system consists of 10 levels with each level being associated with a certain number of ECTS credits depending on the programme demands.

3 ECTS stands for the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. This is an academic credit system based on the estimated student workload required to achieve the objectives and learning outcomes of a module or programme of study.

4 There was a mechanism in the PDMT structure that allowed teachers to complete the course over three years via deferrals and this was the reason for this drop in numbers.

5 The question posed to teachers was ‘How would you describe your approach to mathematics teaching currently (e.g. how do you teach mathematics/what is your typical maths class like/what teaching approaches or classroom practices do you favour etc.)’

6 The teachers who completed the pre-workshop questionnaire were each assigned a ‘respondent number’ for reporting purposes and the same number was used when reporting post-workshop responses. Hence, the teacher numbers reported range from T1 to T207.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Niamh O'Meara

Dr Niamh O'Meara is a lecturer in mathematics and secondary level mathematics education in the University of Limerick. Niamh is based in EPI*STEM (formally the National Centre of Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning). EPISTEM is the leading national organisation promoting excellence in teaching mathematics at both primary and secondary levels. She is academic co-ordinator for the Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching.

Fiona Faulkner

Dr Fiona Faulkner is a lecturer in mathematics in the Technological University Dublin. Fiona lecturers primarily in access education and also has active research links with EPI*STEM (formally the National Centre of Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning) where she previously worked as programme co-ordinator for the Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching.