Commentary: Should Mathematics Teacher Education Be Politically Neutral?

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew D. Felton-Koestler ◽  
Courtney Koestler
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Education ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Educators ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
The Face

Many current and prospective teachers, policy makers, and members of the public view mathematics as neutral and objective, and they expect mathematics teaching and teacher education to be neutral as well. But what would it mean to think of mathematics teacher education as politically neutral? Below we consider some questions that we see as highlighting why mathematics teacher education cannot be neutral. We are not the first to raise these issues, but we appreciate the opportunity to discuss and reflect on them among a community of mathematics teacher educators. Although these questions have always been relevant, we see their importance growing in the face of the increased mathematization of our world and a highly polarized political landscape with a seemingly increased public acceptance of oppressive discourse and actions (Potok, 2017).

When Mathematics Teacher Educators Come Under Attack

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-74
Author(s):  
Rochelle Gutiérrez
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Mathematics Education ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Education ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Educators ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The One ◽  
Historical Moment

We are in an interesting historical moment in mathematics teacher education. On the one and, there is greater realization within our field of the connections between systems of power and mathematics (O'Neil, 2016). We are starting to acknowledge how mathematics education can be viewed as dehumanizing for both students and teachers as well as what might constitute rehumanizing practices (Gutiérrez, in press). Our professional organizations are calling for teachers to move beyond simplistic notions of equity to understand these power dimensions and challenge the system on behalf of (and in community with) Black,1 Indigenous,2 and Latinx3 students in particular

Promoting Active Learning in Mathematics Teacher Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 269-284
Author(s):  
Rukiye Didem Taylan
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Education ◽  
Pedagogical Content

Teacher educators have a responsibility to help prospective teachers in their professional growth. It is important that teacher educators not only teach prospective teachers about benefits of active learning in student learning, but that they also prepare future teachers in using pedagogical methods aligned with active learning principles. This manuscript provides examples of how mathematics teacher educators can promote prospective teachers' active learning and professional growth by bringing together the Flipped Classroom method with video content on teaching and learning as well as workplace learning opportunities in a pedagogy course. The professional learning of prospective teachers is framed according to the components of the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Park & Olive, 2008; Shulman, 1986). Implications for future trends in teacher education are provided.

Noticing and Wondering: A Language Structure to Support Mentoring Conversations

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-56
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Roller
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Education ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Structure ◽  
Before And After ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Educative Mentoring

Teachers and mathematics teacher education scholars have identified field experiences and quality mentoring as influential components of math teacher preparation and development. Yet, quality mentoring is a complex and demanding practice. Providing educative feedback to novices, particularly that which encourages reflection versus evaluation, can be challenging work for mentors. To study the potential of an intervention for providing professional development for mentors, I worked with pairs of mentors and prospective teachers (PSTs) offering Smith's (2009) noticing and wondering language as a way of structuring mentoring conversations that maintain both descriptive and interpretive analytic stances. Analysis of before and after conversations provided evidence of how mentor-PST pairs adopted noticing and wondering language, and in particular illuminated the ways in which the language structure might support interpretive mentoring conversations for studying teaching. The results suggest that mathematics teacher educators may want to consider what makes wondering challenging work and how to best support wondering in educative mentoring conversations.

Taking Stock: MTE's Contribution to Building a Knowledge Base for the Practice of Mathematics Teacher Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Bieda
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Educators ◽  
Link Type ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Educator

When you link to http://www.nctm.org/Publications/mathematics-teacher-educator/About-Mathematics-Teacher-Educator/ to learn about writing a manuscript for publication in Mathematics Teacher Educator (MTE), one aspect of the call for manuscripts that likely stands out is the importance of informing the practice of mathematics teacher education. This directive in the call raises questions such as What is meant by “practice” in the MTE call, considering Lampert's (2010) unpacking of the various ways scholars use this term when talking about teaching? Why do we need work that speaks to the practice of mathematics teacher education? How is mathematics teacher education a practice? Over a decade ago, scholars fervently debated whether teaching, more broadly, is a practice (see Noddings, 2003) and, certainly, the issue is not yet settled. Meanwhile, the demand facing mathematics teacher educators to better educate teachers means more support is needed for those doing the work; mathematics teacher educators continue to face increasing pressure to prepare teachers to engage in more “ambitious teaching” (Newmann & Associates, 1996) than what was expected nearly three decades ago.

Pre-Service Elementary Teachers' Evaluations of Technology Tools for Mathematical Learning

2010 ◽  
pp. 258-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Elementary Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Education ◽  
Lesson Plans ◽  
Mathematics Lesson ◽  
Mathematical Learning ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Educators ◽  
Technology Tools

Pre-service elementary teachers are faced with numerous technology tools which can be incorporated into their mathematics lesson plans. However, these teachers may not be experienced in evaluating technology tools for mathematical learning prior to using them. This chapter presents a reflective model for mathematics teacher educators. In a three-part activity, pre-service elementary teachers identify their criteria for evaluating technology tools, evaluate several technology tools according to their own criteria, and make recommendations for or against those technology tools. As pre-service elementary teachers reflect upon the criteria they feel are essential for evaluating technology tools, they begin to identify the specific affordances and limitations of the technology tools. This chapter describes this three-part activity by placing it within the context of a model for mathematics teacher education.

scholarly journals A review of research trends in mathematics teacher education

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 129-145
Author(s):  
Mario Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Education ◽  
Research Trends ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Educators ◽  
New Research

This article presents a literature review in the field of mathematics teacher education research. The review focuses on identifying the main research trends in this field, that is, the main research topics that the mathematics teacher educators’ community is currently addressing, and the main theoretical concepts used to study these topics. One of the contributions of the review is that it identifies new research trends that have not been previously reported. Some of these trends are online mathematics teacher education, and the design and role of tasks in mathematics teacher education. Una revisión de las tendencias de investigación en la formación de profesores de Matemáticas Este artículo presenta una revisión de la literatura en el campo de la investigación en formación de profesores de matemáticas. La revisión se centra en identificar las principales tendencias de investigación en este campo, es decir, los principales temas de investigación que la comunidad de formadores de profesores está abordando actualmente, así como los principales conceptos teóricos usados para estudiar esos temas. Una de las contribuciones de esta revisión es que se identifican tendencias de investigación que no han sido reportadas previamente. Algunas de estas tendencias son la formación online de profesores de matemáticas y el diseño y rol de las tareas en la formación de profesores de matemáticas.Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/15312Nº de citas en WOS (2017): 3 (Citas de 2º orden, 3)Nº de citas en SCOPUS (2017): 6 (Citas de 2º orden, 4)

Research and Teacher Education: In Search of Common Ground

1994 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 608-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Cooney
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Mathematics Education ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
National Council ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics Educators

Most mathematics educators are involved in the practice of teacher education at some level. Indeed, the field of mathematics education is predicated on the assumption that someone has to be educated to teach mathematics in our schools. This raises the question of what it means to be educated in o rder to become a teacher of mathematics. What kinds of knowledge do teachers need to become effective teachers of mathematics? What sorts of experiences are needed for teachers to acquire this knowledge? A fundamental question for mathematics teacher educators is how the field of teacher education can be conceptualized so that programs and activities can be created to assist in the acquisition of this knowledge. Given the high visibility of standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) (NCTM, 1988, 1991, in press), a question of interest to many is, What does it take to develop teachers who can move the field toward realizing these standards?

Use of Video Analysis to Support Prospective K-8 Teachers' Noticing of Equitable Practices

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Roth McDuffie ◽  
Mary Q. Foote ◽  
Corey Drake ◽  
Erin Turner ◽  
Julia Aguirre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Practices ◽  
Video Analysis ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Educators

Mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) designed and studied a video analysis activity intended to support prospective teachers (PSTs) in learning to notice equitable instructional practices. PSTs from 4 sites (N = 73) engaged in the activity 4 to 5 times during the semester, using a set of 4 “lenses” to analyze teaching and learning as shown in videos. In an earlier analysis of this activity, we found that PSTs increased their depth and expanded their foci in noticing equitable instructional practices (Roth McDuf_ e et al., 2013). In this analysis, we shift the focus to our work as MTEs: We examine our decisions and moves in facilitating the video analysis activity with a focus on equity, and we discuss implications for other MTEs.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document