13th International Congress on Mathematical Education Hamburg, 24-31 July 2016 1 - 1 TEACHER AND STUDENTS AS A COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY LEARNING COMMUNITY: A MEANS FOR TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Liora Nutov Atara Shriki Gordon Academic College of Education Oranim Academic College of Education This paper describes a study that followed the experience of ৲৳ mathematics teachers in primary school while collaborating with their students in an inquiry of a mathematical topic they were unfamiliar with. The purpose of the study was to identify various aspects related to this experience, as perceived by the teachers, and examine its implications on teachers’ professional development in terms of changing their view of their role as mathematics teachers. The findings indicate that this experience, combined with carrying out an action research, had a positive effect on the professional development of the participants, and indeed modified their perceptions regarding their role as mathematics teachers. It also strengthened their sense of self-efficacy and professional image. INTRODUCTION Acknowledging that learning is a social activity, the idea of “community of learners” [abbr. CoL] is becoming a central part of many educational initiatives. Often, this relates to two major modes of action: (1) engaging teachers as learners through a collaborative inquiry, where they can share ideas, learn from one another, and work together to examine pedagogical ideas and didactic approaches; (2) classroom community of inquiry, where students collaborate in investigating a certain topic and are involved in class discussions (Shriki & Nutov, 2014). Working with mathematics teachers who study in M.Ed. program, we wanted to take these ideas one-step further, and engage them in CoL where they collaborate with their students in an inquiry of mathematical topics they were unfamiliar with. Our aim was to provide the teachers with opportunity to experience new teaching situations, thus support their professional development [abbr. PD]. In this paper, we present some of the insights teachers gained as a result of their engagement in this process, and suggest that the described experience is valuable for supporting teachers’ PD. LITERATURE BACKGROUND Teachers’ beliefs, attitudes and perceptions are closely linked to their teaching strategies. Therefore, understanding teachers’ worldview is essential for initiating PD programs aimed at improving educational processes (OECD, 2009; Shriki & Lavy, 2012). This is particularly true in the 21 st century, in which knowledge is regularly renewing, and thus necessitates a frequent adaptation and reconsideration of teachers‘ roles. One of the most recent salient change concerns with moving away from positioning teachers as the exclusive source of knowledge, and viewing them as educational figures whose role is to initiate and facilitate learning situations in which they themselves take an active part (Swann, 2012). However, as evident from the research literature, in order to change teachers’ practices and actions they have to adopt new beliefs; nonetheless, embracing new beliefs