The process of developing mathematics teacher educators’ expertise through collegial supervision in a self-directed community of practice: A case-in-case study

Abstract This paper investigates the process of self-directed professional development among mathematics teacher educators in initial teacher education. Given there is no predetermined pathway to becoming a mathematics teacher educator, groups responsible for teacher education are often composed of persons with various backgrounds. This diversity in expertise is challenging in the shared task of educating prospective (mathematics) teachers, but also necessary due to the complex structure of knowledge for teaching to be conveyed during initial teacher education. To leverage this diversity and to provide a basis for the professional growth of mathematics teacher educators, an initial teacher education university working group established a community of practice through a three-stage process. They first agreed upon common values and criteria for good teaching, as their ‘local theory’ of mathematics teacher educators’ expertise, and then engaged in collegial supervision in the form of peer observation and joint reflection using a self-developed observation instrument. Here, we present one case study, demonstrating the process of one mathematics teacher educator defining and monitoring his own development goals. The results of the qualitative content analyses show that collegial supervision helped to promote the development of a particular area of the mathematics teacher educator’s expertise with the observation instrument providing helpful guidance in conducting collegial supervision. Moreover, the findings indicate that establishing a community of practice and implementing collegial supervision create a window into the self-directed professional development of mathematics teacher educators, making it a viable tool for researchers seeking access to this research area.