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Spoon-feeding to tongue-biting and beyond: factors that contributed to changes in Irish primary school teachers’ mathematics practice

Research that aimed to examine teachers’ experiences whilst implementing a reform approach to mathematics teaching in an Irish primary school forms the basis of this paper. In particular, factors that contributed to changing mathematics practice in this case study school are outlined. The school engaged in professional development (PD) that focused on using an instructional framework [Hiebert, J., T. P. Carpenter, E. Fennema, K. C. Fuson, D. Wearne, H. Murray, A. Olivier, and P. Human. 1997. Making Sense: Teaching and Learning Mathematics with Understanding. Portsmouth: Heinemann] in the school-identified strand units of length and weight. Four classes were tracked throughout the study and each class acted as a sub-case within the larger study. Data collected through lesson observations, teacher interviews, pupil work samples, and pupil focus group interviews were used to compare teachers’ experiences and to identify what supported and enabled them to change their practice, in addition to highlighting challenges that may have prevented such change. Findings were that shifts in practice were evident to different degrees in the four classes during the study. In relation to enabling factors, findings suggest that tailored PD, and the use and refinement of an instructional framework contributed to enabling teachers in changing their mathematics teaching. In particular, teachers reported that the 4Ts instructional framework was a very useful tool in supporting them to change mathematics teaching.