Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics: Learning About Sustained Changes in Teacher Practice through the Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37119/ojs2026.v31i2.939Abstract
The Building Thinking Classrooms (BTC) Initiative, a sub-group of a larger Critical Friends Model of teacher professional development (PD) in an urban Manitoba school division, was designed to improve teachers’ sense of self-efficacy in mathematics instruction and to promote the adoption of optimal, research-based pedagogical practices. Cohorts of 29-30 primarily math teachers/coaches worked with Dr. Peter Liljedahl (as a critical friend) over a series of six PD sessions each year (one in-person and five virtual) to engage with his research-based classroom practices for enhancing student learning and enact them in their own classrooms. The case-study research described in this paper examined data over two years (2022–2023 and 2023–2024) to look at the impact of the BTC initiative on teaching practice(s), effective elements of the PD model in supporting and sustaining changes in practice, and perceptions of impacts on student engagement, achievement, and self-efficacy. Through the use of Clarke and Hollingsworth’s (2002) Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth (IMTPG), change processes were modelled, emphasizing four additional influences on the domains of the teacher’s world in the IMTPG, suggesting that contextual and personal influences are critical considerations in the planning of effective PD.
Keywords: Building Thinking Classrooms, Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth, mathematics, professional development
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Candy L. Jones
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 Unported License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
