Teacher education for mathematical modelling: exploring the experiences of secondary school teachers in two courses

Abstract

This paper focuses on in-service teacher education as a crucial agent in driving educational paradigm shifts for the teaching and learning of mathematical modelling. Our paper presents empirical research based on two case studies, examining training courses for in-service secondary school mathematics teachers. The first course integrates different modelling approaches, while the second one is based on the anthropological theory of the didactic and uses the proposal of the study and research paths for teacher education. Both experiences conclude with teachers working on the design of modelling tasks to be implemented in secondary schools. Both courses are analysed through the lenses of how teachers progress on the collective identification of conditions and constraints for modelling, when teachers deal with the design of modelling tasks and analyse their implementations. First, the results show the kind of modelling tasks teachers design and the level of disciplinary specificity at which they plan modelling to be implemented. Second, we analyse how teachers address the “ecological analysis”, that is, the identification of conditions and constraints that facilitate or hinder the integration of modelling in secondary school classrooms after their experiences.