Faculty Directory

Lillie R. Albert

Program Director, Secondary Education

Professor

Department

TCS Teaching, Curriculum, and Society

Profile

Lillie R. Albert’s approach to mathematics education goes well beyond the numbers—deeply into sociocultural historic contexts, using a social justice perspective to encourage lasting learning improvements. Albert’s expertise spans disciplines, including areas such as the use of cultural and communicative tools to develop conceptual understanding of math.

She is the Principal Investigator of a $1.78 million project funded by the National Science Foundation; the project is designed to prepare and support mathematics teacher leaders to work in high-need school districts in the Boston area.

Albert’s years of active collaboration with colleagues and scholars in South Korea resulted in her recent book, South Korean Elementary Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching, coauthored with Rina Kim. Another book resulted from her research into application of Vygotskian psychological approaches to teaching and learning in mathematical problem-solving.

In keeping with the Lynch School’s emphasis on integrating theory and practice, she has served on projects that benefit youth and communities—such as her work as an advisor on the WGBH Educational Foundation and PBS Learning Media project, "Keep Going! Building a Culture of Perseverance in the Math Classroom."