Learning in practice: Engagement, alignment, and imagination in a secondary mathematics teacher community

Mathematics teachers' participation in communities of practice has been identified as one promising strategy for professional development. Studies focused on school organization have found a strong relationship between teachers' participation in professional communities, innovative practices, and students' learning. Mathematics teachers who participate in communities of practice are more willing to change their practices and their learning becomes generative.;The purpose of this study was to understand how participants in a professional development program initiated, developed, and supported a learning community focused on students' understanding. The analysis focuses on teachers' activity as they participated in a community of practice and how that participation promoted (or restricted) their learning and therefore theirs students' learning. The three components that characterize a community of practice are (1) mutual engagement, (2) a joint enterprise, and (3) a shared repertoire.;The study took place in a bilingual (English-Spanish) high school in a large district in the Midwest, with a high percentage of Latino/a students, and situated in an urban setting. A group of mathematics teachers from this school were asked to participate in a 2-year study focused on students' understanding.;This study focused on the community formed by teachers and researchers. There were two opportunities in which researchers and teachers were engaged in common activities. One was during the general meetings and the other was during the reflection meetings. The data correspond to two year's texts produced through transcripts of teacher-researcher conversations after class observations and of their formal meetings.;The study shows how the community was transformed by the practices and resources available to the members. While at the beginning, the teachers were concerned about institutional issues, such as graduation tests and curriculum, at the end, the group was focused on specific content and specific strategies to promote understanding in the classroom.;Finally, the study shows how engaged participants used this opportunity to reflect on their practices and to develop relationships with critical friends who helped them progress in their change process. Other more peripheral participants were also attempting changes in their practice and trying to confront dilemmas characteristic of this process.