Problem Solving Task Centres and the Professional Development of Mathematics Teachers

In the past ten years, there has been a considerable growth in the development of mathematics task centres across Australia and, more recently, the United States, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In this study, thirteen teachers, all experienced in the use of problem solving task centres, were interviewed by telephone. The focus of the interviews was on the perceived benefits to teaching and the professional growth of teachers, and to staff collegiality within schools, from the establishment and maintenance of the task centres. All respondents were positive about individual and group benefits of such task centres. In particular, teachers spoke of the opportunity that task centres provided to explore the teaching of problem solving, to encourage the development of problem solving strategies, to broaden their view of mathematics and their notions of what it means to "do mathematics", and to work collaboratively on establishing a "risk-taking atmosphere" in their teaching and in the learning environment which they offered to their students. An important additional feature of the teachers' responses was their comments on the role of tasks and task centres in enhancing their own view of mathematics,their mathematical content knowledge, and that of their colleagues.