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On designing better structures for feedback in practice-based professional development: Using “failure” to innovate

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A Correction to this article was published on 26 July 2023

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Abstract

This research article contributes to the growing literature highlighting the potential for innovation in mathematics education through design cycles that involve creative risk-taking and failure-based learning. Specifically, we explore how “failed” cycles of StoryCircles—a practice-based professional development approach that centers on teacher collaboration—have been productive in fostering innovations within the program. Our focus is on the challenges that arose in our efforts to enable feedback mechanisms within the StoryCircles system that support teachers’ interrogation of their own instructional practice, as they collaboratively develop lessons and expand their collective knowledge base for teaching mathematics. Through examples of three challenges, we illustrate how various lesson artifacts, including those constructed by teachers in anticipation of implementation and those extracted from actual implementations, failed to serve as the sole source of feedback for supporting teachers’ growth.

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© 2023, The Regents of the Author Institute, all rights reserved, used with permission

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Notes

  1. When we use the term “StoryCircles” we are referring to the StoryCircles process and therefore treat the word as a singular rather than a plural.

  2. EMATHS (Embracing Mathematics, Assessment, Technology in High School) through LessonSketch StoryCircles was a two-year PD intervention project funded as a Mathematics Science Partnership project awarded to Deborah Ferry at the Macomb ISD and funded through the State of Michigan. The authors participated in this project through a subcontract to the Author Institute whereby they supported EMATHS facilitators as they used StoryCircles with teachers. All opinions in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the organizations that supported the project or other individuals involved in the project.

  3. EMATHS curricular materials were developed in the context of a previous Mathematics Science Partnership projects awarded to Deborah Ferry at the Macomb Intermediate School District and funded through the State of Michigan in the U.S. The tasks can be found at http://emathsmi.com/resources.php.

  4. The problem stated in Fig. 2 fails to use the diagrammatic register “whereby the ‘givens’ and the ‘prove’ are stated in terms of specific objects in a diagram (i.e., using their labels)” (Herbst et al., 2013, p. 1).

  5. Developed in the context of a project entitled “Managing Students Contributions to Mathematical Work in Whole Class Discussions in High School: How Do Teachers Decide What to Do?” funded by the James S. McDonnell Foundation awarded to Patricio Herbst.

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Funding

This work and writing of this paper is done with support of the National Science Foundation (Grant DRK12-2201087) to A. Brown and P. Herbst and the James S. McDonnell Foundation (Grant 220020524) to P. Herbst. All opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the foundations.

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  1. Educational Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Amanda M. Brown & Patricio G. Herbst

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Correspondence to Amanda M. Brown.

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Brown, A.M., Herbst, P.G. On designing better structures for feedback in practice-based professional development: Using “failure” to innovate. J Math Teacher Educ 26, 581–605 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-023-09588-1

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