Academic Mothers in Mathematics Education as Boundary Spanners: Leveraging Caregiving Experiences to Enhance Teacher-Family Communication

• In Event: Advancing Equity and Excellence in Mathematics Education

Abstract

We discuss knowledge gained from a collaborative autoethnography on our experiences as mothers related explicitly to teacher-family communication and how we leverage this knowledge to prepare pre-service teachers for effective teacher-family communication. Specifically, in this paper we discuss one of the three themes that emerged from our data analysis relative to knowledge gained through our experiences as mothers in relation to teacher-family communication and the resulting changes in our MTE practice. We assert that as we look for pathways to connect to families in mathematics education, one potential source is to look to the experiences of MTEs who are also parents/caregivers, challenging the field of mathematics education to expand its understanding of what constitutes professional knowledge.

Authors

• Sarah A. van Ingen Lauer, University of South Florida

• Eugenia Vomvoridi-Ivanovic, University of South Florida

• Jennifer Ward, Kennesaw State University