PME-NA

“It's Like Talking To My Therapist": Engaging Preservice Elementary Teachers in Identity Work

• In Event: Identity in Pre-Service Teacher Education

Description

Preservice elementary teachers’ relationships with mathematics significantly shape their approaches to teaching and their students' learning experiences. This study explores how autobiographical reflection, in the form of Dear Math letters, supports preservice teachers in developing their mathematics identities. Through interviews with participants, we explore how engaging in this reflective process influenced their relationship with math. Findings highlight three key themes: (1) a more humanized conceptualization of math, (2) a more conscious awareness of past math experiences, and (3) a sense of space having been created for healing the relationship between themselves and mathematics. These insights underscore the potential of identity work in mathematics teacher education, demonstrating how structured reflection can support the mathematics identity development of preservice teachers.

Authors

• Kathryn Habib, University of North Carolina

• Anna Gustaveson, University of North Carolina

• Dionne Cross Cross Francis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill