RECSAM 50th Anniversary Coffee Table Book

69 Special Projects 7 In 2013, SEAMEO RECSAM embarked on a project initiative the “Southeast Asia Regional Standards for Mathematics Teachers” (SEARS-MT) aimed to be used as benchmarks for monitoring improvement in teacher quality. The goal of SEARS-MT is to document a set of standards that describes thequalities that a mathematics teacher in the SEAMEO region should attain in the 21 st century. As a regional initiative, the SEARS-MT would be especially bene fi cial for new emerging economies in the region which may not have the capacity to develop their own teachers’ standards at the moment. A series of workshops and seminars were conducted on 12 to 14 March 2013 and 2 to 5 July 2013 andattendedbymathematics specialists from the SEAMEO Member Countries, consultants from Australia and Japan as well as regional experts from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines. The SEARS-MT document is comprised of four dimensions and their corresponding standards and indicators. These four dimensions and their standards include (i) professional knowledge – knowledge of mathematics, knowledge of students, knowledge of students’ learning of Southeast Asian Regional Standards for Mathematics Teachers (SEARS-MT) and the Malaysian Mathematics Teacher Quality Standards (MMTQS) mathematics, knowledge of intellectual quality and knowledge of ICT; (ii) professional teaching and learning process – mathematical tasks and discourse, planning for learning process, implementing teaching strategies, monitoring, assessment and evaluation, re fl ection of teaching and learning; (iii) personal and professional attributes – personal attributes, personal professional development, personal responsibilities towards community; and (iv) professional communities – professional ethics, professional communities at schools, professional communities outside schools. Assoc. Prof. Allan White interacting with the participants in the SEARS-MT Seminar held in 2013 Prof. Takuya Baba as one of the project SEARS-MT consultants