Ally Identities in Mathematics Teacher Professional Development

• In Event: Teachers' Identities: Intersections Between Content, Self, and Professional Roles

Abstract

We investigate mathematics teachers’ instantiation of ally identities during a professional development that sought to engage mathematics teachers in understanding their identities and positionalities in relation to systems of oppression. We utilize Sfard and Prusak’s (2005) conception of telling identities to understand how two teachers narrated ally identities and how those identities changed (or not) over the course of the professional development. We end with implications that discuss the need for teacher educators to consider how teachers might convey ideas of allyship and to use their ideas in considering additional resources (i.e., material and relational), beyond ideational, that might help teachers integrate allyship more fully into their teaching practices and identities, especially in demoralizing teaching environments.

Authors

• Brent Jackson, Michigan State University

• Tonya Bartell, Michigan State University

• Mary Q. Foote, Research Foundation, CUNY