Title: Lessons from Project PROMPT about our role as Educators of Teachers
Speaker: Phyllis Chinn and Dale Oliver, Humboldt State University

For the past 4 years, Phyllis Chinn and Dale Oliver have led intensive workshops to engage mathematics faculty members in a rethinking process regarding what we teach and how we teach in mathematics courses for prospective K-8 teachers. One of the motivations for leading this rethinking process is the changing math curriculum of the K-8 classrooms. Although resistance to change is a ready option, mathematicians can also choose to support the process of change through efforts to improve the mathematical integrity of K-8 programs and the mathematical understanding of the teachers who deliver these programs. Prospective teachers (and classroom teachers) are hungry for leadership in this area, particularly in light of public scrutiny of certain curricular materials. The most influential forum for mathematicians to improve mathematical integrity in the context of new pedagogy is in their own courses. Mathematicians must learn about the pedagogy of K-8 math reform, and practice those that may be used effectively to teach fundamental mathematical skills and ideas for improving math instruction at the K-8 level. In this session, participants will engage in discussion about providing mathematical leadership for prospective K-8 teachers.