1. Mathematics Research & Teaching Conference Linking Professional Development and Research for Mathematics Teaching The British Library Thursday 15 February 2007

2. Our Mission
To create excellence in the teaching of mathematics by improving the skills, effectiveness and aspirations of the mathematics teaching community to enable the mathematics needs and potential of all learners to be fully realised.

3. The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics
“Working collaboratively to enhance mathematics teaching”
Our aims:
Improve the quality and availability of professional development for all teachers of mathematics
Coordinate existing mathematics networks and organisations to offer teachers easy access to the support, research and resources available
Establish a culture of collaborative working to encourage a sharing of experience and expertise

4. Research and professional development
Researching professional development
Research-informed professional development
Research as professional development
Both research and professional development can lead to creation of new knowledge about teaching and learning. New knowledge can be relevant to international, national, local, or personal contexts. Similarly, practice can be informed by knowledge, which has been generated at international, national, local and personal levels. There are different mechanisms for dissemination and critical use for these. The day will look at the relationship between Research and Professional Development (PD) in mathematics through three foci:
Researching professional development: what sorts of improvement arise from various different PD structures – what gets talked about? Do people do what they already do but do it better? Do people do things differently? How do radically different patterns of achievement result from PD? What is sustainable without outside input, whole school initiatives, course enrolment etc.
Research-informed professional development: how is PD informed by (a) research about PD? (b) research about mathematics didactics? How can PD become more linked to what is known about effective teaching of mathematics, both pedagogically and didactically (particular mathematical topics)?
Research as professional development: (a) teacher initiated: teacher-as-researcher, collaborative school-based research, (b) HE initiated: engagement in HE research projects and so on. What kinds of improved learning result from these? Is it sustainable?