Distributed Planning—the New Assembly Line: A Survey of Mathematical Planning Practices in Early Career Teachers

• In Event: Park Central Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Promising Teacher Practices for Diversity and Inclusion

Abstract

Lesson planning is a pivotal component of teaching, yet little research has been done in the last 20 years related to how in-service teachers lesson plan. Over the same period, new policies focused on student achievement and changes in teacher collaboration practices have altered the work of teachers. In this paper, we examine the ways in which early career teachers from 3 Midwestern schools plan with their colleagues. We define a previously undocumented planning practice, “distributed planning,” in which teachers work interdependently to share the planning responsibility. Our findings suggest that while distributed planning may lessen teacher workload, it does not contribute to substantive planning conversations. Instead, these discussions occur more often when teachers engage in informal collegial conversations.

Authors

• Kim Evert, University of Virginia

• Benjamin David Hadlock, Centre College

• Nicole Christine Ellefson, Michigan State University