AERA April 2005 Judy Mumme & Cathy Carroll WestEd Rebekah Elliott Oregon State University Using Videocases to Examine Mathematics Professional Development

Adapted from Ball & Cohen leader of leaders leader contexts Cases focus here contexts leader teacher contexts student math

Leadership Curriculum for Mathematics Professional Development (LCMPD) Video as medium  Short 5 to 10 minute clips from PD Cases as strategy  Modules of 4 to 7 cases  Objects of inquiry vs exemplars Goal: support K-12 leaders in the development of the knowledge, skills, and sensibilities to effectively lead worthwhile mathematics professional development. * Funded by NSF (ESI )

Leadership Curriculum for Mathematics Professional Development (LCMPD) Video as medium  Short 5 to 10 minute clips from PD Cases as strategy  Modules of 4 to 7 cases  Objects of inquiry vs exemplars Goal: support K-12 leaders in the development of the knowledge, skills, and sensibilities to effectively lead worthwhile mathematics professional development. * Funded by NSF (ESI )

Rationale for Inquiry Stance Disciplinary - mathematics as dynamic field vs static and determined (Steen, 1990) Pedagogical - teaching (teaching teachers) is complex & uncertain (McDonald, 1992; Wasserman, 1999; Lampert, 2001) Visibility - making the invisible visible (Lewis, unpub) Practice - situates practice as site for learning--from another’s to one’s own ( Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999)

Video Example Context: Group of grade 5-12 teachers in session 9 of a workshop series focused on student thinking related to algebra They have just discussed a mathematics task and we drop in as the facilitator, Christopher, is commenting on an article he read related to their discussion. Frame for Viewing: What beliefs or understandings might underlie people’s statements?

What beliefs or understandings might underlie people’s statements?

Discuss Select one of the people in the video. What beliefs or understanding do you think underlie that person’s statement? What is an alternative interpretation of that statement?

Challenges to Cultivating an Inquiry Stance Counter to typical US culture of teaching Counter to norms for observing teaching Counter to perception that teaching requires simply knowing the content

Cultivating a culture of Inquiry Explicit statements about purpose of inquiry Questions, prompts, video framing Back up claims with evidence Consider alternatives Consider benefits/drawbacks Role-playing

Professional Development of Professional Developers: Using Practice Based Materials to Foster an Inquiring Stance Researching this work Paper by Rebekah Elliott Oregon State University Research for Quality Schools Examined pilots (six 3-hr seminars) of one LCMPD module with 2 cohorts of K-12 leaders (15 total)

Use of Inquiry: A Conceptual Framework* Linguistic Dimension - syntactical rules and vocabulary (“language of practice”) Normative Dimension - multiple perspectives; benefits and drawbacks of ideas Contextual Dimension - structures and materials used A copy of the paper is available at * Based on work of Remillard & Rickard, Ball & Cohen, and Cochran-Smith & Lytle

Preliminary Findings Leaders* did not consistently embrace a stance of inquiry, although there was some improvement over time Leaders were sometimes confused as to the purpose of taking a stance of inquiry Leaders sometimes used a language of inquiry (linguistic dimension) without a taking up consideration of multiple perspectives (normative dimension) Leaders more readily adopted a stance of inquiry related to doing mathematics versus analyzing PD practice * reminder: leaders were the case participants

Future Research Possibilities What supports or hinders inquiry in leadership development? What issues do leaders face with inquiry in other contexts (other than their own leadership development)? How do practice based materials help/hinder the development of a stance of inquiry? How are leaders’ understandings of inquiry impacted? How does a culture of inquiry in leadership development translated into leaders’ own PD practice?

A copy of the paper is available at For more information on LCMPD materials contact: Cathy Carroll - Judy Mumme -