Teaching Problems and the Problems of Teaching

"This very readable book is invaluable for teacher preparation colleges. Students and practitioners as well as general readers will gain a deeper understanding of teaching. Researchers will find the framework and methodology noteworthy."—Choice


"[V]ery readable. . . invaluable for teacher preparation colleges . . . [s]tudents . . . practitioners . . . general readers . . . Researchers will find the framework and methodology noteworthy."—Choice

"As I approached the book, I wondered whether it would offer new insights. I was not disappointed. The book provides a wealth of new information. In addition, Lampert has skillfully crafted her book so that it can be read productively by many different audiences and from many different perspectives. . . . Readers who teach intermediate grades, middle grades, or teacher education students will find problems that they will want to add to their existing repertoires. . . . The book can be read as a resource for teacher educators. . . . The book can serve as a resource for researchers. . . . The book can be read as a companion to NCTM’s recent Principles and Standards for School Mathematics.. . . As a whole, the book can be seen as a comprehensive elaboration of the five process standards: problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication, connections, and representation. . . . This book should be required reading for researchers of mathematics teaching, for teacher educators, and for teachers who wish to develop into reflective practitioners. In my view, the field of mathematics education would benefit greatly if all or parts of this book were read by school administrators and educational policymakers."—Erna Yackel, Journal of Research in Mathematics Education


"There have been many excellent books published about teaching but this book has something very special about it. I am currently in my thirty seventh year of teaching and I must say that I have never read anything quite like it. . . . This book is a great deal more than just another book about teaching. The psychology of teaching mathematics through problems, when allied to a detailed analysis of the psychology involved as the teacher reflects on the needs of every individual child in the class and the way her own responses are going to best support them, is such a fruitful combination that many people and not just teachers of mathematics would find this book extremely illuminating. I think that all teachers would find a great deal to help them."—Kevin Purday, Metapsychology



“The book cannot be praised enough for this wonderful combination of a theory of practice and a practical theory. . . . This extremely important book shows in an exciting way how teaching and learning evolve slowly throughout a school year. It shows in a detailed and exemplary fashion how a qualitatively different form of mathematics education is possible in which students’ understanding of mathematics becomes a true aim, and in which it is not only intended but also attained.”—Falk Seeger, Mind, Culture, and Activity



"Uses a case study of a fifth-grade mathematics class to examine how the dynamic relationships of the classroom affect learning."—The Chronicle of Higher Education


"Although the setting is mathematics, the value of Lampert’s book is broad, addressing the core issues that face anyone in education. This is one of the most important books about education to appear in the past decade. What Lampert writes is deep and compelling. The story is engaging, even griping; I couldn’t put it down."—Jim Stigler, author of The Learning Gap