Abstract
In this chapter, the notions of collaboration and co-operation are explored in the context of a large-scale project of professional development of mathematics teachers in performance-based assessment. The overall project consisted of series of co-operative workshops in which teachers themselves were employed as facilitators to lead groups of their peers. Although the project was not very successful overall, there were a few successful activities, which occurred during the life of the project. One involved the setting up of a collaborative writing group the purpose of which was to produce a set of rich assessment tasks. Reasons for the success of this activity include the high level of collaboration in the group, the sharing of goals by members of the group, and the knowledge and skills of the facilitator. Another successful activity was a series of school-based workshops held over a long period of time in a provincial area, organised by a very competent regional numeracy advisor. The results of the project indicate that many ingredients are necessary for a successful large-scale professional development programme. These ingredients include addressing teachers’ beliefs as well as teachers’ knowledge; conducting a series of activities over a long period; facilitators having knowledge and skills in cooperative professional development as well as in the content area of the programme; building in support structures for facilitators; and providing opportunities for facilitators to experience success in the classroom implementation of the professional development topic. Key ingredients are the opportunities for close collaboration and the sharing of ideas and experiences.
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Nisbet, S., Warren, E., Cooper, T. (2003). Collaboration and Sharing as Crucial Elements of Professional Development. In: Peter-Koop, A., Santos-Wagner, V., Breen, C., Begg, A. (eds) Collaboration in Teacher Education. Mathematics Teacher Education, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1072-5_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1072-5_3
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