CREATIVITY AND OPENNESS AS INDICATORS OF PROFESSIONAL GROWTH OF LEADERS IN COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE OF TEACHERS WHO TEACH THE HIGH-LEVEL TRACK OF HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMATICS

The participants in the study presented in this chapter are high school mathematics teachers teaching the high-level track of high school mathematics. The teachers were members of a program called Club-5 that adopted communities of practice as a setting for support and encouragement of teachers’ learning and professional development, with the goal of raising the quality of mathematics teaching and learning at the highlevel track. The community leaders in Club-5 are expert mathematics teachers and teacher advisors who themselves are members of a community of community-leaders devoted to the advancement of community leaders’ knowledge and proficiency associated with leading local communities of practice. We describe here principles of communities of practice as adopted for Club-5 and explain why creativity-directed activities were chosen as a major tool for attaining Club-5‘s goals. The chapter focuses on the development of community leaders’ professional potential. Changes in creativity and openness associated with mathematical and didactical components of the activities the community leaders implemented within the communities, as well as their willingness and proficiency in providing the teachers in the communities with more autonomy, serve as indicators of community leaders’ development. We argue that Club-5 communities exemplify the implementation of theory in practice and strengthen the role of creativity in developing and sustaining knowledge and skills.