Exploring One Preservice Teacher’s Shifting Sense of Agency in a Mathematics Teacher Education Course (Poster 5)

• In Event: Thursday Poster Session 10:50 am
  In Poster Session: Research in Mathematics Education

Abstract

This study addresses an under-examined area of work related to preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) agency in math by examining one PST, Laura, and shifts in her agency in a math teacher education course. While Laura started the course with lingering fear and intimidation about math stemming from her limited sensemaking in former learning contexts, throughout the course Laura shifted in her approach to math, seeking out challenges and expressing joy and delight in the process. These findings show that shifts in her agency involved a coupled affective and epistemological dynamic that shaped how Laura experienced math. These findings motivate designing math teacher education with explicit attention to affect and epistemology to better support PSTs’ agency as math learners and future teachers.

Authors

• Jessica Smith, Vanderbilt University

• Lama Ziad Jaber, Florida State University

• Ian Whitacre, Florida State University

• Domonique Caro-Rora, Florida State University