Research behind the Best Evidence Synthesis

Item number
BES005

BES selection
Mathematics BES

Format
Journal article

Title
Learning mathematics a classroom community of inquiry

Author
Goos, Merrilyn

Publisher
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Publishing Year
2004

Source
Journal for research in mathematics education, v.35 n.4 p.258-291

ISSN
00218251

Subject
Teaching

Descriptors
Teaching ; Classroom techniques ; Learning theories ; Mathematics education ; Teaching effectiveness ; Mathematics teaching

Age Focus
Adolescents (13 to 17 years)

Education level
Secondary education

Language
English

How to obtain
Ask at your public or university library. If they don’t have it they can borrow it from another library for a small charge.

Abstract
This article considers the question of what specific actions a teacher might take to create a culture of inquiry in a secondary school mathematics classroom. Sociocultural theories of learning provide the framework for examining teaching and learning practices in a single classroom over a two-year period. The notion of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is invoked as a fundamental framework for explaining learning as increasing participation in a community of practice characterised by mathematical inquiry. The analysis draws on classroom observation and interviews with students and the teacher to show how the teacher established norms and practices that emphasised mathematical sense-making and justification of ideas and arguments and to illustrate the learning practices that students developed in response to these expectations. (Author)

______________________________________________________________________________

The Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis programme (BES) : New Zealand Ministry of Education
http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/themes/BES