I have been a mathematics instructional coach for 15 years. Prior to that I was a secondary mathematics teacher for 20 years. (Yes…I’m old.) For most of my career I have observed the importance of teachers knowing…really, really knowing…the math they teach. I’m not talking knowing the math well enough to get the answer, but a deeper kind of KNOWING in which we understand why the solution method works, how to represent that solution method using concrete manipulatives, and can connect a variety of other non-traditional solution methods to the “traditional” method shown in the textbook.
A while back, I learned this type of knowing math is called Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT).
As a math coach, while I might be showing teachers how to do the Three Read Protocol or teach in the style of Building Thinking Classrooms, I am ALWAYS also trying to increase the teachers’ understanding of the very math concepts they are supposed to be teaching.
My belief is that the more MKT a teacher has, the more the teacher will LOVE math and students will learn more as a result.
I recently stumbled across this old Message from the NCTM President from 1999. Twenty-six years ago. It could have been written today. Check it out here:
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