Collaboration: A Collective Bargain for Achieving Quality Mathematics Classroom Practice

Year 2019, , 347 - 361, 15.08.2019

İliya Joseph Bature , Bill Atweh

https://doi.org/10.12973/ijem.5.3.347

Abstract

This paper sought to look at collaboration as an effective tool for mathematics classroom instruction. Four preservice teachers in a qualitative case study taught mathematics to three senior secondary school classes in two secondary schools in Northern Nigeria for a period of 15 weeks spread over three years. During this period 12 students volunteered to participate in four focus group discussions on the effectiveness of the pedagogy in their classrooms. Observations, research journals and focus groups were used to collect data for the study. A Narrative approach to data analysis was used to analyses the data collected. The findings of the study suggested that, the preservice teachers had initial challenges introducing the framework into their classrooms, they, however, gradually adopted the pedagogy into their classroom teaching. The study suggested that the preservice teachers used collaborative groupings and higher ordered questions to foster collaboration among their students. Some benefits of this strategy were also highlighted from the study. Prominent among them was the effective teacher-student and student-student relationship, help students see mathematics problems as common problems and reduced the domineering attitude of mathematics teachers who see themselves as possessing the monopoly of knowledge. Other findings observed in the study include the replacement of the teacher-centered approach to teaching with a student-centered approach. Therefore, it is suggested that, if collaboration is introduced into Nigerian mathematics classrooms, the traditional teacher-controlled mathematics classroom instruction that has bedeviled our classrooms will be reduced, and a new student-centered learning approach will be put in place.

Keywords

Pedagogies, Collaboration, quality classroom Instruction, Mathematics classroom teaching.

References

• Abimbade, A., & Afolabi, S. S. (2012). A study of pedagogical approaches of mathematics teaching in south-western states of Nigeria. International Journal of Asian Social Science, 2(8), 1182-1192.
• Alexander, R. (2005, July). Culture, dialogue and learning: Notes on an emerging pedagogy. Paper presented at the conference of the International Association or Cognitive Education and Psychology, University of Durham, UK.
• Barron, B., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2008). Teaching for meaningful learning: A review of research on inquiry-based and cooperative learning. San Rafael, CA: Edutopia.
• Bature, I. J. & Jibrin, A. G. (2015). The perception of preservice mathematics teachers on the role of scaffolding in achieving quality mathematics classroom instruction. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 3(4), 275-287
• Bature, I. J. (2014). Productive pedagogies for reforming secondary school mathematics classroom practice in Nigeria (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
• Collaborative Society. (2013). Collaboration - on the edge of a new paradigm [video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/77240879
• Davis, B., & Simmt, E. (2003). Understanding learning systems: Mathematics teaching and complexity science. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 34(2), 137-167.
• Dillenbourg, P. (1999). What do you mean by collaborative learning? In P. Dillenbourg (Ed.), Collaborative-learning: cognitive and computational approaches (pp. 1–19). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.
• Emmer, E. T., & Gerwels, M. C. (2006). Classroom management in middle and high school classrooms. In C. M. Evertson & C. S. Weinstein (Eds.), Handbook of classroom management (pp. 407-437). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Federal Republic of Nigeria. (2004). National Policy on Education (4th Ed.). Lagos, Nigeria: Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council Press.
• Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2003). Learning by doing the philosophy and strategies of active learning. Chemical Engineering Education, 37(4), 282- 283.
• Forman, E. A., & Cazden, C.B. (1985) Exploring Vygotskian perspectives in education: the cognitive value of peer interaction. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed.), Culture, Communication and Cognition: Vygotskian Perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Fullan, M. (2011). The moral imperative realized. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, & Toronto, Canada: Ontario Principals Council.
• Goos, M. (2004). Learning mathematics in a classroom community of inquiry. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 35(4), 258-291.
• Hamdi, F., Ghorbel, A., Masmoudi, F., & Dupont, L. (2018). Optimization of a supply portfolio in the context of supply chain risk management: literature review. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 29(4), 763-788.
• Hannafin, M. J., & Hannafin, K. M. (2010). Cognition and student-centred, web-based learning: Issues and implications for research and theory. In J. M. Spector, D. Ifenthaler, P. Isaias, Kinshuk, & D. Sampson (Eds.), Learning and instruction in the digital age (pp. 11-23). Newyork, NY: Springer.
• Hedberg, A. (2018). Global Talent Development Can Be Enhanced Through International STEM Teacher Exchange and Collaboration. Retrieved from https://www.globaltalentsummit.org/blog/global-talent-development-can-be-enhanced-through-international-stem-teacher-exchange-and-collaboration
• Jaworski, B. (2006). Theory and practice in mathematics teaching development: Critical inquiry as a mode of learning in teaching. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 9(2), 187-211.
• Krainer, K. (2003). Teams, communities & networks. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 6(2), 93-105.
• Laal, M., & Laal, M. (2012). Collaborative learning: what is it? Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 31, 491 – 495
• Lin, L. (2015). Investigating Chinese HE EFL classrooms. Berlin, Germany: Springer. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/978-3-662-44503-7_2
• Lloyd, G. M. (1999). Two teachers’ conceptions of a reform-oriented curriculum: Implications for mathematics teacher development. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 2(3), 227–252.
• Mansaray, A., & Amosun, P. A. (2002). Curriculum innovation in Nigeria and the challenge of Globalization. In A. Mansaray, & I. O. Osokoya (Eds.), Curriculum Development at the turn of the century the Nigerian Experience. Ibadan, Nigeria: Dept. of Teacher Education, University of Ibadan,
• Pressley, M., Goodchild, F., Fleet, J., Zajchowski, R., & Evan, E. D. (1989). The challenges of classroom strategy instruction. The Elementary School Journal, 89(3), 301-342.
• Mueller, M. F., Maher, C. A., & Powell, A. B. (2007). The co-construction of argument by middle school students. In Proceedings of the 29th annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Lake Tahoe, NV: University of Nevada, Reno.
• Morganett, L. (1991). Good teacher-student relationships: A key element in classroom motivation and management. Education, 112, 260-264.
• Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2006). Knowledge building: Theory, pedagogy, and technology. In K. Sawyer (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 97- 118). New York: Cambridge University Press
• Scott C. L. (2015). The futures of learning 3: what kind of pedagogies for the 21st century? UNESCO Education Research and Foresight: Working Papers, 15, 1-22. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000243126
• Smith, F., Hardman, F., Wall, K. & Mroz, M. (2004). Interactive whole class teaching in the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. British Educational Research Journal, 30(3), 395-411.
• Stake, R. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 433-466). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Webb, N., & Farivar, S. (1999). Developing productive group interaction in middle school mathematics. In A. O'Donnell, & A. King (Eds.), Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp. 117-150). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Yin, R. K. (2006). Case Study Methods. In J. L. Green, G. Camilli, & P. B. Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in education research (pp. 111-122). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.