Aligning Teachers' Movements and Identities

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research in Progress Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Beliefs, Identity, Cognitive Equity, and Assessment Practices (Table 15)

Abstract

A teacher has many identities. Which identity is performed at any moment is a function of past and present experiences, the relationship between students and the teacher, dialogue, and body movements. These factors are not emphasized enough when preparing preservice teachers to teach mathematics in the classroom. I see action as a form of communication and argue that aligning action with identity contributes to meaning-making and supports a relationship and rapport among students and teachers. My goal is to explore how teachers' movements align with their identities in small group math stations called "math centers." Through two case studies of experienced elementary teachers/teacher educators, this study uses lenses of embodied cognition and identity as performance to understand bodily action and gestures in the math centers. Using qualitative methods, I found through transcription and analysis of video and interview data that participants made both conscious and subconscious choices with actions based on past teaching experience and being a mother.

Author

• Maria Eloisa Nuguid, Purdue University
  Presenting Author