Toward Learning Trajectories for Core Practices in Teacher Preparation: Eliciting and Interpreting Student Thinking

• In Event: Preservice Teachers' Learning to Teach Mathematics

Abstract

There has been a recent increased focus on organizing teacher education around core practices of teaching, such as eliciting and interpreting student thinking. Recognizing the value of student learning trajectories for improving classroom instruction, this study explores the possibility that there may be learning trajectories for core practices that could inform teacher education instruction. Using data from a teaching simulation conducted both early and late in an elementary teacher education program, we examine differences in how 43 novices engaged in the core practices of eliciting and interpreting children’s mathematical thinking. We found that end-of-program teachers tended to be more strategic, efficient, and integrated in how they elicited and probed student thinking. We explore implications of these findings for teacher education.

Authors

• Sarah Kate Selling, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Meghan M. Shaughnessy, University of Michigan

• Timothy A. Boerst, University of Michigan