"Where Do We Want Our Students to Feel Authority?" Math Teachers Negotiating Authority Across Contexts

• In Event: Mathematics Matters: Teacher Knowledge and Praxis

Abstract

Professional learning initiatives, under neoliberal policy landscapes, can operate with certain expectations about who holds authority and how it is exercised, frequently positioning teachers as objects rather than agents of change. In this paper we explore the relational and participatory impacts of centering the authority of a group of middle school math teachers. Our preliminary findings illustrate the myriad ways teachers engaged in learning about authority and practiced sharing authority with colleagues and students across professional learning spaces, which included: (1) asking probing and clarifying questions, (2) facilitating and process-checking, and (3) affirming and revoicing others’ thinking. Findings suggest that PL facilitators should center the authority of learners in ways that parallel efforts to support student authority in mathematics classrooms.

Authors

• Jim Malamut, Stanford University
  Presenting Author

• Faith Kwon, Stanford University
  Presenting Author

• Hilda Borko, Stanford University
  Presenting Author