Welcome to the Heinemann PD Professional Learning Community Series! This month, we highlight and discuss the language of mathematics.

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"When students spend all their time in math class answering discrete questions to which the answers are either right or wrong, it is very difficult to develop a growth mindset or to believe that mathematics is about growth and learning."    -Jo Boaler

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Mathematics education expert Jo Boaler believes that if teachers can shift their mathematics classrooms from places of performance to places of struggle, students will be able to harness the mindset necessary to grow as learners. In addition to sharing research findings about how brain growth occurs when errors are made, Jo elaborates on a list of practices that need to disappear as well as describes clear changes that need to occur in math classrooms in the United States.

This Heinemann Digital Library article will provide many perspective-changing points for discussion among your school’s professional learning communities, between team members, or within your online learning networks. What shifts can you make to create a learning environment —not  performing—as Jo describes?
 

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Dr. Jo Boaler (@JoBoaler) is a Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University and co-founder of www.youcubed.org. She is the editor of the Research Commentary Section of The Journal for Research in Mathematics Education (JRME), and the author of seven books. She is also the recipient of the 2014 Kay Gilliland award for equity from NCSM, the author of 2 MOOCs on mathematics teaching and learning for teachers, parents and students, a White House presenter, and an advisor to the PISA team at the OECD.