Teachers transforming resources into orchestrations

Abstract

Nowadays, mathematics teachers are confronted with a myriad of resources that are available through technological means and through the internet in particular. However, teachers may perceive difficulties in orchestrating education which makes use of technological tools and resources. With instrumental orchestration as a theoretical lens, the main question addressed in this chapter is into which types of orchestrations teachers transform the technological resources. In the setting of a pilot teaching sequence in grade 12 on using applets for practicing algebraic skills, this question is investigated, through a case study of one participating mathematics teacher, through questionnaires among the 69 participating teachers, and through interviews with six of them. The results show that teachers privilege orchestrations in which students work individually or in pairs, at the cost of whole-class orchestration types. Within the performance of these student-centred orchestrations, we recognise elements already known from previously identified orchestrations. Compared with their regular teaching practices and their expectations before the pilot, the involvement in the pilot causes teachers to adapt their orchestrations during the pilot.