MANOR – Educating Educators to Work with Practicing Secondary School Mathematics Teachers

Principle Investigator

Prof. Ruhama Even

R&D team (1993-2003)

Hasida Bar-Zohar

Tammy Eisenmann (ex-Ph.D. student)

Orly Gottlib

Nilli Hirshfeld

Tova Kvatinsky (ex-Ph.D. student)

Naomi Robinson

Zipora Reznik

Dr. Josephine Shamash

Tali Wallach (ex-Ph.D. student)

Summary

I believe that the role of teacher educators (providers of professional development for teachers or teacher developers) is crucial for improving mathematics and science teaching at a national level. I therefore initiated, designed and operated an innovative preparation program for educators of practicing secondary school mathematics teachers: The MANOR Program, which later became part of the MANOR National Mathematics Teacher Center that operated between 1993-2003. When MANOR was established in 1993 no preparation program for educators of practicing mathematics teachers existed in Israel nor had we known of such a program elsewhere in the world. Moreover, there was almost no related research literature on the education of mathematics teacher educators or on the practice of mathematics teacher educators working with practicing teachers. International interest in the problem of developing educators for practicing teachers started about a decade after I began my pioneering work in this area at MANOR. This situation presented a genuine challenge for us when designing a formal program for educating educators to work with practicing mathematics teachers, and in providing them with continuous support.

My earlier research in this area was related to studying the nature of the practice of educators of practicing mathematics teachers, to the identification and examination of the kinds of development of educators of practicing mathematics teachers that are significant in and for practice, to aspects of curriculum design for the preparation of educators of practicing mathematics teachers, and to problems likely to be encountered and ways of addressing them. The findings of these studies contributed greatly to the design of courses and activities for the mathematics strand of the Rothschild-Weizmann master program for excellent secondary school teachers of science and mathematics.

My recent research in this area complements the earlier one. It centers on MANOR as an illustrative case to exemplify how difficulties underlying the problem of developing educators for practicing teachers might be addressed in a practical setting, introducing the construct of knowtice (a combination of knowledge and practice) as a lens to capture the essence of what educators need to learn and develop. I also elaborate the theoretical orientations on which MANOR draws.

Related link (Old Manor)

Related publications

  • Even, R. (1999). The development of teacher-leaders and in-service teacher educators. Journal for Mathematics Teacher Education, 2, 3-24.
  • Even, R. (1999). Integrating academic and practical knowledge in a teacher leaders' development program. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 38, 235-252.
  • Hofstein, A. & Even, R. (2001). Developing chemistry and mathematics teacher leaders in Israel. In: C. R. Nesbit, J. D. Wallace, D. K. Pugalee, A-C. Miller, & W. J. DiBiase (Eds.), Developing teacher leaders in science and mathematics: The role of professional development (pp. 189-208). Columbus, OH: ERIC Center for Mathematics, Science and Environmental Education.
  • Even, R., Robinson, N., & Carmeli, M. (2003). The work of providers of professional development for teachers of mathematics: Two case studies of experienced practitioners. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 1(2), 227-249.
  • Even, R. (2005). Integrating knowledge and practice at MANOR in the development of providers of professional development for teachers. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 8(4), 343-357.
  • Even, R. (2008). Facing the challenge of educating educators to work with practicing mathematics teachers. In B. Jaworski & T. Wood (Eds.), The international handbook of mathematics teacher education: The mathematics teacher educator as a developing professional (pp. 57-73). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense.
  • Even, R. (2012). The education of teacher educators. In N. M. Seel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning (pp. 1073-1075). Springer.
  • Even, R. & Krainer, K. (in press). Education of mathematics teacher educators. In S. Lerman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education. Springer.

Hebrew Publications

  • Series Innovator and Chief Editor of the Manor Resource File Series – research-, theory- and practice-based materials for use by mathematics teacher educators and providers of professional development.
    1. Hirshfeld, N., Robinson, N., Radai, O., & Even, R. (1996). Resource File: Algebra. Rehovot, Israel: MANOR, Weizmann Institute of Science.
    2. Even, R., Gottlib, O., & Hirshfeld, N. (Eds.) (1998). Resource File: Functions. Rehovot: MANOR, Weizmann Institute of Science.
    3. Shamash, J. (1998). Resource File: π. Rehovot: MANOR, Weizmann Institute of Science.
    4. Hirshfeld, N. & Robinson, N. (2001). Resource File: Teaching mathematics in heterogeneous classes. Rehovot, Israel: MANOR, Weizmann Institute of Science.
    5. Gottlib, O., Shamash, J. & Dreyfus, T. (2003). Resource File: Limits. Rehovot: MANOR, Weizmann Institute of Science.
  • Even, R., et al. (2001). Position paper on the advancement of junior-high mathematics teaching. Rehovot, Israel: MANOR, Weizmann Institute of Science.