Transforming Elementary Mathematics Classroom Practice: Ideas and Innovation from a Leader’s Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to highlight common challenges that school leaders encounter when seeking to implement change in the teaching and learning of mathematics at their schools. Specifically, the chapter will offer innovative ways that international elementary principals successfully have influenced systemic change in K-5 mathematics classroom practice. The challenges highlighted are not unique to international educators, but the context from which we speak is situated in the international educational environment. We offer practical, but theoretically based guidance for school leaders looking to implement, support, and sustain authentic change in the culture and practice surrounding the math development of students. The first half of the chapter will provide context and a situational perspective relative to the complex relationship between principals, as instructional leaders, and their ability to influence classroom change. Key events that have made conversations about the teaching and learning of mathematics prominent in schools around the world also are highlighted. The second half of the chapter details actionable ideas grounded in research that elementary principals or curriculum leaders can implement to help shift classroom teaching and learning at the elementary level. Ultimately, these shifts are designed to enable higher levels of mathematics achievement for all K-5 students.