The Influence of In-Service Teacher Rehearsal on Classroom Mathematics Discourse

• In Event: Professional Learning Experiences for Mathematics Teaching

Abstract

I analyzed inservice teachers participating in rehearsals of classroom conversations intended to support the learning of middle school students engaging in collective critique of student-invented representations and measures of variability. During rehearsal, participants enacted whole class discussion by assuming roles of teacher and student, while teacher educators interjected at various points to provide immediate coaching and suggestions for revision. Employing discourse analysis, I examined how three cohorts of four teachers appropriated and adapted the suggestions in their own classroom discussions. I found many instances of alignment between suggested discourse moves in rehearsal and those in subsequent classroom discussions. In cases where students did not respond to moves as teachers anticipated, teachers adapted the moves productively.

Author

• Erin Pfaff, University of Michigan