This longitudinal study for over one academic year is aimed to investigate a junior high school mathematics teacher’s professional growth towards developing conjecturing-inquiry teaching by means of the narrative inquiry approach. The progress of the case teacher’s professional growth is narrated by narrative structure which is framed from the narrative analysis according to videotaping of teaching practice, in-depth interviews, and teacher’s reflections. Research results reveal that the case teacher is gradually aware that his role recognition and teaching practice are influenced by his initial beliefs within the progress of professional growth through developing conjecturing-inquiry teaching. By means of constant negotiation and discussion with peers in the research group, as well as his own reflective practice in the classroom teaching, the case teacher adjusts his focus on students’ understanding, adopting systematic problem-posing strategy as the core task of mathematical conjecturing to help students develop mathematical conjecturing thinking, and building up a multi-functional teaching procedures for promoting teaching efficiency. Finally, as re-discovering his core teaching values and beliefs, the case teacher comprehends that the student is the centre of learning, and perceives that the teacher’s role is the problem poser and the constructor of the learning environment. The objectives of conjecturing-inquiry teaching should be to foster students actively getting involved in inquiring mathematical problems, and conducting mathematical thinking through specialising, systematising, generalising, and refuting while solving problems.
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An Investigation of a Junior High School Teacher’s Professional Growth towards Developing Mathematics Conjecturing-Inquiry Teaching
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