Noticing for Equity: Emerging Themes From Video Club Discussions Focused on Algebraic Thinking

• In Event: 14.042 - Teacher Noticing for Equitable Teaching Practices in Mathematics

Abstract

Purpose: This paper explores opportunities for engaging preservice teachers (PSTs) in discussions of equity in the context of a professional development (PD) focused specifically on mathematical content. There has been a growth in research that explores ways to support teachers in teaching students of diverse backgrounds, especially when those backgrounds differ from their own (Ladson-Billings, 1994, and others). Much of this work highlights issues of equity, thus allowing the disciplinary content to fall to the periphery. While this work is important, we also recognize the need to meet the needs of all students while maintaining the rigor of the discipline. Recent work explores developing equitable practices with an eye on the content of mathematics (e.g., Gutierrez, 2002; Turner et al., 2012). We extend that work by exploring teachers’ discussions about equity in the context of a PD focused primarily on content.
Theoretical Background: We use the lens of teacher noticing to explore teacher practice (Author, 2009). We also recognize that teacher learning is a social activity, and thus apply a sociocultural lens to teacher learning (Putnam and Borko, 2000) by examining patterns of teacher talk as representative of commitments and dispositions to teaching.
Methods: In this paper, we look at data collected from a video club intervention specifically designed to help PSTs develop noticing skills in the domain of algebra (Author, 2015). A series of six video club sessions took place over an eight-week period. Participants were provided an Algebraic Thinking Framework to support their noticing of student algebraic thinking. The sessions were videotaped and transcribed. Two sessions were open coded by a team of researchers and initial codes were identified. The codes were informed by existing equity frameworks (Author, 2012; Roth McDuffie et al., 2013; Wager, 2014) as well as new codes that emerged from the data. Each of the six videos was coded by at least two of the three researchers and inter-rater reliability was at least 80% on all coded moments.
Results: Our findings indicate, that even though the video club was centered around algebraic thinking, issues of equity arose in PST discussions. Four themes emerged that relate to noticing for equity:
(1) Identifying missed opportunities to learn;
(2) Recognizing power dynamics and power struggles;
(3) Assigning competence to students; and
(4) Arguing for differentiated instruction.
These themes will be described using vignettes of the video club discussions.
Significance: This study suggests that content focused video clubs are a rich space for preservice teachers to learn about equitable mathematics instruction. It points to the need to integrate noticing for equity into math video clubs and provides evidence that video clubs can be used as an additional pedagogical tool for math teacher educators to attend to issues of equity in mathematics.

Authors

• Alice LaRue Joy Cook, University of Maryland - College Park

• Angela Stoltz, University of Maryland - College Park

• Janet Dawn Kim Walkoe, University of Maryland