Plenum 3

Seán Delaney

Seán Delaney, PhD., is registrar and a mathematics educator at the Marino Institute of Education in Dublin. Before becoming a teacher educator, he spent eleven years teaching, mostly in the Kilkenny School Project National School, where he spent a year as principal. His research interests include teachers’ mathematical knowledge, practices of teaching, the quality of mathematics textbooks, and approaches to teacher education. He has studied in the United States, at Harvard University where he was awarded a Masters in Education (Technology in Education), and at the University of Michigan where he received a PhD (Teaching and Teacher Education) in 2008. He is author of the book Become the Primary Teacher Everyone Wants to Have: A Guide to Career Success which was published by Routledge in 2017. He (occasionally now) presents and produces the Inside Education podcast about education. He blogs at the website www.seandelaney.com.

The teaching, tensions and practice of inquiry-based teaching of mathematics for all

In this presentation I will explore what is meant by inquiry-based teaching and how researchers interpret it in different ways. I will present cases of what inquiry-based teaching of mathematics looks like when it is implemented in practice.

When teachers attempt to teach mathematics so that all students are included, teachers often inadvertently remove the mathematical challenge. I’ll outline ways in which it is possible to include every student while maintaining the mathematical challenge for all.

Finally, I will identify how teacher educators can prepare teachers to practise inquiry-based teaching of mathematics for all and help them anticipate and overcome obstacles to such teaching they might encounter in school settings. The presentation will conclude with some questions to be addressed by those who aspire to engage in inquiry-based teaching.