Managing to Teach Ambitiously in Elementary Mathematics and English Language Arts

• In Event: Math as Language

Abstract

Classroom management poses pressing challenges for novice teachers. Current expectations that beginning teachers enact ambitious instruction and raise student achievement exacerbate these challenges. This paper presents case studies of two, first-year, elementary teachers’ efforts to build positive classroom environments and enact ambitious mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) instruction in high-poverty schools. We use the notion of activity networks to trace the networks of resources the teachers assembled to build their teaching practice. We find that the content and density of these networks shaped teachers’ efforts to manage students and teach ambitiously. Surprisingly, while a dearth of resources lowered instructional quality, an abundance of resources also eroded management and instructional quality in mathematics. We explore implications for research and induction.

Authors

• Dorothea M. Anagnostopoulos, The University of Connecticut

• Jillian M Cavanna, University of Connecticut - Storrs

• Sian Charles-Harris, University of Connecticut