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Developing an Association-Wide Professional Learning Network for Secondary Mathematics Teachers: A Narrative of a Three-Year Research Project
Book chapter

Developing an Association-Wide Professional Learning Network for Secondary Mathematics Teachers: A Narrative of a Three-Year Research Project

Lewes Peddell, Royce Willis and Darius Samojlowicz
Re-imagining Teaching Improvement:From Early Childhood to University, pp.23-46
Springer Nature Singapore, First edition
01/2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7746-8_2
Appears in  Recent Faculty of Education Publications

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Abstract

Mathematics teachers Online communities Regional Research partnership Rural and remote communities Teacher of mathematics identity Teacher education and professional development of educators Mathematics and numeracy curriculum and pedagogy Other education and training
This chapter traces the narrative of a three-year research project between researchers at SCU and the Mathematical Association of New South Wales (MANSW)—a state-based professional association of over 10,000 mathematics teachers in Australia. The project’s underlying premise was that teachers of mathematics who were involved in a community setting supported by the professional association would experience an increased sense of teacher of mathematics identity, leading to an increased likelihood of staying in the teaching profession. The project commenced with developing a blended community of practice in a regional area of the state. This initial approach expanded to a state-wide professional learning network supported by an online platform. This expansion grew from difficulties in reaching the original regional area due to COVID travel restrictions. It later gained momentum as the realisation that a state-wide network of communities would increase the opportunity for connections between teachers with shared interests and needs. Among the project’s findings were that decreases in satisfaction with being a mathematics teacher, decreases in identity as a teacher of mathematics, and increases in professional isolation significantly predicted participants’ intention to quit. Furthermore, the results suggested that engagement with MANSW more broadly predicted higher overall satisfaction and retention.

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