Mathematics Methods as a Site for Developing Ambitious and Equitable Teaching Practices for Preservice Teachers

• In Event: Preparing Preservice Teachers for Ambitious and Equitable Mathematics Teaching

Abstract

Math methods courses are sites where pre-service teachers expect to develop knowledge and skill for helping students learn math. These activities typically include core tasks such as curricular aspects of lesson planning, preparing and teaching math lessons, and/or assessment strategies. Successful implementation of these activities, where success means students’ developing mathematical proficiency (National Research Council, 2001; RAND, 2003), requires both flexible and usable mathematical knowledge for teaching that includes awareness of and skills for attending to dilemmas of race, status, language, culture, power, and privilege. Drawing on the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) (Author, 2005, 2008a) and culturally relevant teaching (Ladson-Billings, 1995; 2007), our methods course is organized around a set of principles and practices that interweave deliberate and simultaneous attention to developing ambitious mathematics teaching practices with attention to issues of equity and diversity. Based on related research, our approach does not adopt a “color-blind/ race-neutral” approach to viewing students that advocates that all students are treated the same (Author, et al., 2003; Author, 2005; 2010; Gutierrez, 2002). Instead, we draw from research studies that advocate a multiple-ability approach (Boaler & Staples, 2008; Cohen, 1994; Cohen & Lotan, 1999; Featherstone et al., 2011) that value students’ identities as fruitful sites for broadening participation and engagement in rigorous mathematics learning. Our presentation and paper includes a description of our core principles and practices and shares examples of tasks used in this methods course. Samples of student work provide evidence for a trajectory for how pre-service teachers, over time with deliberate guidance, might develop the knowledge and skills needed for enacting equitable teaching practices.

Author

• Julia Maria Aguirre, University of Washington - Tacoma