Teachers' Beliefs and Practices in Mathematical Discourse for Diverse Students in Inclusive Classrooms

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Six
  In Roundtable Session: Equity and Innovative Practices for Students With Dis/abilities (Table 18)

Abstract

Teacher talk tends to dominate classroom instruction and classroom discourse lacks frequent opportunities for teacher-student and peer interactions. The purpose of this qualitative study is to increase understanding regarding teachers’ beliefs and practices related to mathematical discourse in inclusive general education elementary mathematics settings. Through inductive and deductive thematic analyses of interviews, focus group, classroom observations, and lesson plans, it was found that teachers implement mathematical discourse to assess understanding by soliciting students’ reasoning, believe all students should participate in classroom discourse, believe discourse should be explicitly taught and modeled, believe that discourse does not need to be planned before instruction, lead and guide the direction of the discourse, and plan and implement mathematical discourse based on curriculum activities.

Author

• Gloria A. Carcoba Falomir, University of Nevada - Las Vegas
  Presenting Author