Co-constructing a Learning Community to Nourish, Empower, and Sustain Teachers in their Commitments to Justice

• In Event: Navigating Community Relations in Mathematics Education Equity Research: Insights from Early Career Scholars

Abstract

This presentation explores how a learning community co-constructed with early career teachers supports participants in navigating the tensions of bringing their commitments to justice and equity into their everyday mathematics teaching. Research has highlighted the importance of creating classrooms that support children to see themselves and each other as capable doers of mathematics (e.g. Aguirre et al., 2012). Yet systems and structures in schools are rarely organized toward such ends and often (unintentionally) reproduce deficit discourse, particularly toward minoritized communities (Adiredja & Louie, 2020). Compounding this challenge, the current sociopolitical climate has brought fraught ideological contestations into schools and classrooms. This can leave teachers feeling isolated and disempowered (Bradford & Braaten, 2018) as they try to do what they think is right for children while also preserving their job security.

For my EMERG-supported project, I invited a group of six early career teachers from the same credential program (completed in different years) to co-construct a teacher learning community to nourish, empower, and sustain teachers in their commitments to just and equitable mathematics teaching. I first met these teachers when I was their math methods instructor during their credential program, which emphasized principles of Ethnic Studies pedagogy across content areas (Reyes-McGovern & Buenavista, 2016). Our collaboration is grounded in principles of teacher solidarity co-design, including reciprocity, caring relationships, shared articulations of justice, and attention to power throughout design (Philip et al., 2022). This session addresses the questions, 1) What resources, conversational routines, and interactions empower teachers to imagine new possibilities for mathematics teaching and learning? and 2) What factors constrain teachers’ sense of agency and possibility?

Preliminary findings suggest that intentionally building community with like-minded colleagues and providing flexibility and choice can support teachers to feel empowered and inspired in their mathematics teaching practice. Throughout initial community meetings, teachers repeatedly named the many pressures they face (e.g. to “raise student achievement”) and their difficulty in finding colleagues and resources at their school sites to support them toward their commitments to just and equitable mathematics teaching. All six teachers expressed how motivating and inspiring it has been for them to be part of a teacher learning community with other early career teachers who share their commitments and can offer new ideas and insights to deepen their practice. Future analyses will examine design choices, material and ideological resources, facilitation moves, and interactional dynamics that support (or inhibit) teachers’ sense of agency and their willingness to try new practices.

The past several years have presented teachers with unprecedented change, uncertainty, and pressures ranging from ongoing impacts of the pandemic to attempts to dismantle the department of education. In this moment, it is more important than ever to attend to teachers’ spirits as an integral part of supporting their learning. This project aims to offer insights into how to design mathematics teacher learning spaces that not only support teachers’ practice but also help them feel nourished and empowered in the profession.

Author

• Mallika Scott, California State University - Fullerton