Role of the Teacher in Mathematical Discourse

Teachers play an important part in orchestrating mathematical discourse in the classroom. In designing math lessons that promote discourse, the following should be considered:

1.    Problematising the content – By turning content into problems, it creates opportunities for students to discuss and present possible solutions. Instead of offering standard solutions, the teacher can facilitate learning by posing questions to elicit and challenge students’ thinking. Through appropriate questioning technique by the teacher, students would be actively engage in clarifying and justifying their ideas, either orally or in writing.

2.    Scaffolding – To support the students, teachers have to decide when to provide information, when to clarify an issue, when to model, when to lead, and when to let a student struggle with a difficulty. When misconceptions are surfaced during their discussion, teachers should seize the opportunity to turn it into a teachable moment to explain a certain concept with more details.

3.    Feedback – Providing timely feedback to students on their performance will enhance their learning. Teachers could also create opportunities for students to provide constructive feedback to their peers. Giving peer critique involves higher order thinking skills such as analysing and evaluating, which are desirable outcomes of education.

4.    Monitoring- During learning activities in the classroom, teachers should monitor students’ participation and decide when and how to encourage each student to participate. It is also a good practice to reflect after the lesson to identify what students have achieved, where they make errors, when they have misconceptions, when they are not engaged - in this way, teaching and learning can be synchronised and powerful.

With students taking more responsibility of learning, teachers would have to consider adjusting their role in the classroom to complement the change in teaching approach. From delivering instruction in the past, teachers have to assume the position of a facilitator, who will provide appropriate scaffolding and feedback to guide the students in the right direction.