JAMES HIEBERT, ANNE K. MORRIS and BRAD GLASS LEARNING TO LEARN TO TEACH: AN “EXPERIMENT” MODEL FOR TEACHING AND TEACHER PREPARATION IN MATHEMATICS

This paper describes a model for generating and accumulating knowledge for both teaching and teacher education. The model is applied first to prepare prospective teachers to learn to teach mathematics when they enter the classroom. The concept of treating lessons as experiments is used to explicate the intentional, rigorous, and systematic process of learning to teach through studying one’s own practice. The concept of planning teaching experiences so that others can learn from one’s experience is used to put into practice the notion of contributing to a shared professional knowledge base for teaching mathematics. The same model is then applied to the work of improving teacher preparation programs in mathematics. Parallels are drawn between the concepts emphasized for prospective teachers and those that are employed by instructors who study and improve teacher preparation experiences. In this way, parallels also are seen in the processes used to generate an accumulating knowledge base for teaching and for teacher education.