Peer Observation and Pedagogical Reasoning About Equitable Math Discussions in Hawaii

• In Event: Representations of Practice to Scaffold Teacher Learning to Enact Equitable and Disciplinary Classroom Discussions

Abstract

Objectives. Structural conditions enabling collaborations among teachers leading to improvements in teaching and learning include weekly meetings among small teams of teachers that are (a) peer-facilitated, (b) focused on common instructional aims, and (c) guided by team inquiry protocols (Gallimore et al., 2009). In this paper, we examine how a formative peer observation system enables and constrains teachers’ pedagogical reasoning during their collaborative meetings to enact Instructional Conversations for Equitable Participation (ICEP). We analyze peer-facilitated, collaborative meetings undertaken by a fifth-grade teacher team in Hawaii as they plan and analyze lessons designed to foster equitable classroom talk about mathematics. The ICEP program consists of various materials, participant structures, and external support, centered on four domains of classroom observation: (1) contextualized discourse, (2) collaborative activity, (3) complex ideas using everyday language, and (4) equitable participation.
Theoretical Framework. Lefstein et al. (2020) propose the concept of pedagogically productive talk (PPT) to frame the process of teacher collaborative learning—i.e., on-the-job discourse that is productive for “the development of participants’ adaptive expertise and professional judgment” (p. 362). One feature of PPT is “pedagogical reasoning,” which Horn and Garner (2022, p. 56) and others characterize as describing issues or raising questions about teaching, accompanied by some elaboration of reasons, explanations, or justifications to propose action-oriented steps.
Some research has examined how types of representational resources afford or constrain pedagogical reasoning. Gaudin and Chaliès (2015) and van Es (2012), for example, find affordances of lesson videos, especially compared to teacher recollection or lesson plans which have serious limitations (Horn, 2010; Little, 2003). We examine the affordances and constraints of a peer observation system. We ask:
How is teachers’ pedagogical reasoning evidenced in their grade-level team discussions about ICEP lessons?
How does the use of ICEP rubrics and observation data promote (or constrain) teachers’ pedagogical reasoning?
Data and Methods. We draw on data from one year of a multi-year, multi-site study of teachers working to enact ICEPs. Data for this study include transcriptions of 10 video-recorded meetings undertaken by a teacher team with periodic support from external project personnel. In these sessions, teachers use video-recorded lesson segments and observation notes and scores as evidence for reflections and decision-making. Transcriptions were coded using a priori codes regarding pedagogical reasoning (e.g., problem of practice, rationale, evidence) as well as codes related to use of ICEP materials (e.g., questions rubrics, references observation notes).
Results and Significance. Our findings indicate that teachers appropriated the concepts from the ICEP rubrics to focus on student participation and interactions during math lessons. The rubrics functioned as a lens that improved focus on specific features of classroom talk; however, teachers commented that instructional features and goals not part of ICEP tended to be neglected. Some problems of practice identified by teachers that did not align with ICEP were not taken up for further reflection or action. A remaining question is the extent to which the observational materials and structures foster pedagogical reasoning in general or only in relation to ICEP domains.

Authors

• Bryant Jensen, Brigham Young University

• Leslie Reese, California State University - Long Beach

• Taylor Topham, Northwestern University

• Brandon G. McMillan, Brigham Young University

• Xiaohang Zhang, Brigham Young University

• Grace Johnson, Brigham Young University