Examining How Mentors Provide Feedback to Elementary Teacher Candidates About Eliciting Student Thinking in Mathematics

• In Event: You Are Not Alone: Mentoring Practices and Priorities

Abstract

Mentor teachers may have the most immediate influence on teacher candidates’ (TCs) practices, suggesting that teacher educators must continue to explore the messages conveyed about ambitious mathematics instruction in field-placements to bridge the gap. The purpose of this case study is to explore mentors’ perceptions of eliciting student thinking in mathematics and to understand how they go about modeling and providing feedback to their TCs about such practices. Data were collected with four TCs and their respective mentors via recorded mathematics lesson observations, coaching conversations and interviews. The findings focus on how the TCs and mentors made meaning of what it means to elicit student thinking, the structures of the feedback conversations, and the coaching moves used during feedback conversations.

Author

• Casedy A. Thomas, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University