| The purpose of this study was to answer the following question: How do the mathematics beliefs of teachers change as a result of their participation in a Mathematics Collaborative form of staff development?;Sixteen early childhood teachers from an elementary school in southwest Houston who participated in a yearlong Mathematics Collaborative form of staff development were the participants in the study. Data were collected in October 1999, prior to the beginning of the Mathematics Collaborative, in the form of a mathematics questionnaire, audiotaped interviews, and a written description of each participant's best mathematics lesson. Post-Collaborative data were gathered in May 2000 in the form of concept maps the participants created about their mathematics beliefs, audiotaped responses to questions about their concept maps, audiotaped responses to questions about the content of a mathematics textbook, and open-ended questions about the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards (1989, 1991, 1995, 1998) and the Mathematics Collaborative.;All data were analyzed and sorted using the pattern coding method. Teacher data related to the participants' beliefs about the nature of mathematics, teaching mathematics, and how mathematics is best learned were pattern coded using Anne Raymond's categories for sorting teacher beliefs: traditional, primarily traditional, evenly mixed between traditional and nontraditional, primarily nontraditional, and nontraditional (Raymond, 1997).;Results indicated that more than 50% of the teacher participants' beliefs about the nature of mathematics, the teaching of mathematics, and the learning of mathematics changed after participation in the Mathematics Collaborative. Fifty-six percent of the participants listed the Collaborative as having had a positive influence on their teaching. Case studies describing the beliefs of each of the participants prior to and after participation in the Mathematics Collaborative are included. In addition, recommendations for further research and practice are provided. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
