Methodological Advancements for Analyzing Teachers' Learning in a Community of Practice

• In Event: Supporting Families, Groups, and Communities in Qualitative Research

Abstract

Professional development that privileges teachers’ voice, equity, and the investigation of high-quality instruction is essential to the mathematics education community. However, more research is needed to understand the process, content, and depth of teachers’ learning in this setting. This paper shares our analytic method designed to capture such learning. We integrate three complementary perspectives: Communities of Practice (theoretical framework), Teaching for Robust Understanding (conceptual framework), and Frame Analysis (analytical framework). We show how this method captures changes in teachers’ participation and reification, indicating the process, content, and depth of their learning across their professional development experience. Such work iterates on Frame Analysis and advances the methodology to highlight additional tools to better understand teacher learning about components of powerful classrooms.

Authors

• Helene Leonard, Montclair State University

• Victoria D Bonaccorso, Montclair State University

• Joseph DiNapoli, Montclair State University

• Eileen Murray, Math for America