Evolution, through participation in a research group, of Mozambican secondary school teachers' personal relation to limits of functions
Date
2008-05-30T12:39:16Z
Authors
Huillet, Danielle Jeanne Georgette
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Abstract
This study investigates the evolution of four Mozambican teachers’ personal
relation to the limit concept through their participation in a research group, where
they looked at mathematical issues concerning several aspects of the limit
concept. It shows how the teachers’ early personal relation to limits was close to
the Mozambican Secondary School institutional relation to this concept, and how
it evolved to a more elaborate relation. This evolution is shown to be uneven and
limited for some aspects of mathematics for teaching limits which require deep
understanding of basic mathematical concepts.
This study also provides an analysis of the teachers-as-researchers movement,
where teachers’ research mainly focuses on pedagogical issues, taking the mastery
of mathematical knowledge for granted. It illustrates the difficulties faced by a
teacher when challenging, not only his pedagogical practice, but also the
mathematical content of his teaching. It concludes that this kind of research
should be centred on mathematics.