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1 – 10 of 765This study aims to describe the feasibility of designing and fostering pre-service teacher inquiry at the intersection of community and disciplinary engagement. Mapping My Math…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to describe the feasibility of designing and fostering pre-service teacher inquiry at the intersection of community and disciplinary engagement. Mapping My Math (MMM), a game-based and mobile learning activity, guided pre-service teachers in playfully exploring mathematics featured in the everyday activities of people and places and creatively representing this inquiry with digital media.
Design/methodology/approach
This study draws from design-based research that examined the role of place, digital media and mobility in mathematics teacher education. Design narrative methods describe how MMM was created, implemented and refined to support disciplinary inquiry across settings given the evolution of tools, activities and practices. The study and design narrative address the following question: How can game-based and mobile learning be designed to support pre-service teachers’ disciplinary inquiry of everyday mathematics?
Findings
Findings shared in this study’s design narrative attend to the quality of pre-service teachers’ inquiry-as-play, or expressive mobility situated amonglearners’ social and material relations, disciplinary concepts and the built environment.
Research limitations/implications
Implications from this study concern the role of mobile learning in mathematics teacher education to connect school, community and online settings; the potential of gameful design to impact pre-service teacher learning across settings; and the importance of fostering disciplinary inquiry whereby pre-service teachers can “navigate” their own learning.
Originality/value
Game-based and mobile learning designs, like MMM, can create the conditions for cross-setting mobility as generative of inquiry-as-play in mathematics teacher education. MMM encouraged pre-service teachers to playfully leverage disciplinary practices that shaped new relationships with mathematics, their city and the mathematics of place and community.
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Mun Yee Lai and Yin Wah Priscilla Lo‐Fu
The purpose of this paper is to report a case study of how learning study was incorporated in teacher education programs in Hong Kong. It aims to share the success of the program…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report a case study of how learning study was incorporated in teacher education programs in Hong Kong. It aims to share the success of the program and to disseminate how pre‐service teachers enhanced their mathematical content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge by practising learning study. Building on the work, this paper suggests incorporating the framework of learning study, a theory‐guided pedagogical principle, as an integrated subject of mathematics pedagogy and teaching practice in teacher education programs.
Design/methodology/approach
In total 32 pre‐service teachers’ learning journals of their reflections of learning processes were analyzed. The analysis of data and reporting of findings are linked tightly to how pre‐service teachers enhanced their mathematical content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge by practising learning study.
Findings
The 32 pre‐service teachers noted that the learning study subject fostered their understanding of relationship between theory and practice and their understanding of transforming knowledge into action. In particular, they came to understand that knowledge of pupils and content involves a particular mathematical idea or procedure and familiarity with students’ prior knowledge and misconceptions. They also reported that they understood better what mathematics pedagogy content knowledge means and what components it includes.
Originality/value
The suggestions of incorporating the framework of learning study in teacher education programs is supported and manifested by the positive feedback and comments of the 32 pre‐service teachers who underwent the entire learning process of learning study in Hong Kong. The findings demonstrate how pre‐service teachers’ mathematical content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge were enhanced by practising learning study.
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Qiaoping Zhang, Jing Guo and Yicheng Wei
This study explored the mathematical dispositions of Hong Kong mathematics pre-service teachers (PSTs). It also constructed a mathematical disposition framework comprising their…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explored the mathematical dispositions of Hong Kong mathematics pre-service teachers (PSTs). It also constructed a mathematical disposition framework comprising their affective, cognitive and functional dispositions towards the subject.
Design/methodology/approach
Thirty-one participants completed three structured metaphor tasks and one open-ended metaphor task in which they shared their views on mathematics. Responses were examined qualitatively and quantitatively. Coding based on thematic analysis was utilized to summarize the specific contents of the mathematical dispositions expressed by the PSTs, and a 5-level scoring scale was employed to evaluate the strength of the dispositions as represented by different metaphor types.
Findings
The findings suggest that the mathematical dispositions of pre-service mathematics teachers were generally positive. However, the overall level was not high. The most prevalent metaphors used to describe mathematics were “rice”, “blue” and “dog”.
Research limitations/implications
Hong Kong mathematics PSTs' mathematical dispositions are examined by using metaphorical tasks. Three categories are identified: affective, cognitive and functional dispositions towards mathematics.
Originality/value
This study has proposed an original framework for describing mathematical disposition.
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Omar Hernández-Rodríguez, Gloriana González and Wanda Villafañe-Cepeda
The authors developed a lesson study innovation for bridging pre-service teachers' experiences in an early methods course and clinical experiences focusing on the development of…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors developed a lesson study innovation for bridging pre-service teachers' experiences in an early methods course and clinical experiences focusing on the development of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). The authors analyze one planning meeting by a lesson study team comprised of four pre-service teachers and one cooperating teacher. The purpose of this research was to determine the nature of documentation during the online planning meeting and how the cooperating teacher facilitated the documentation process.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used Gueudet and Trouche's (2009) documentation framework to determine the way the lesson study team in our study used all the resources available to plan a lesson. They analyzed the video recordings of the meeting to examine the interplay between material, didactical and mathematical components during the discussions. The material components included the Teacher Desmos Activity Builder and the eTextbook. The didactical components included assessment, scaffolding, multiple representations and problem-solving activities. The mathematical components pertained to systems of linear equations and inequalities with two variables.
Findings
The authors’ findings show that the cooperating teacher performed an invariant set of actions for improving the research lesson and, also, gave recommendations about how to implement the lesson. In facilitating the planning discussions, the cooperating teacher made explicit the relationship between material, didactical and mathematical components. The authors’ work has implications for supporting the preparation of facilitators of online planning sessions during lesson study.
Research limitations/implications
The authors did not have access to the planning meeting where the PSTs created the draft of the research lesson. In addition, they are reporting the observations of only one online meeting.
Originality/value
The authors’ work has implications for supporting the preparation of facilitators of online planning sessions during lesson study.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the coaching and mentoring supervision of the Lesson Study to enhance preservice mathematics teachers' research competencies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the coaching and mentoring supervision of the Lesson Study to enhance preservice mathematics teachers' research competencies.
Design/methodology/approach
The researcher employed a multi-case study design to describe the internship experiences of practicing coaching and mentoring supervision while preservice teachers engaged in Lesson Study. A total of six preservice teachers were the samples, and they were teaching six lessons. A classroom observation evaluation form was used to collect data from 60 observers, with a proportion of 10 observers to each sample to assess and provide feedback on the samples' research competencies. This was followed by 12 individual, semi-structured interviews using interview protocol. The participants included 60 Lesson Study group members and six mentors from the three research schools, together with the samples' internship advisors from Suratthani Rajabhat University, totaling to 72 assessors. Data were examined using the thematic analysis method.
Findings
The results of 60 observation evaluations revealed that coaching and mentoring supervision of Lesson Study can develop samples' research competencies in four capabilities, namely, instructional planning, classroom management, instructional delivery and professional development. The 12 interview results indicated that the six samples' research competencies were improved in these four aspects, namely, data collection and analysis, collaboration, reflection and pedagogical content knowledge.
Practical implications
Mentoring and coaching supervision of Lesson Study holds great potential for collaborative professional development and continuous improvement of mathematics teachers' research competencies.
Originality/value
This article suggests meaningful professional benefits of participation in mentoring and coaching supervision.
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To prepare pre-service mathematics teachers (PSMTs) in Egypt, learning statistics as a subject takes place at the faculty of science, apart from what is going on at the faculty of…
Abstract
Purpose
To prepare pre-service mathematics teachers (PSMTs) in Egypt, learning statistics as a subject takes place at the faculty of science, apart from what is going on at the faculty of education. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has highlighted this dilemma as follows; “Pre-service education in Egypt is characterized by a separation of theory from practice, in the belief that student teachers will put it into practice later in schools” (OECD, 2015, p. 120). The purpose of this paper is to propose a microteaching lesson study (MLS) model that bridges the gap between learning free content pedagogies and teaching statistics, consequently, enhances PSMTs’ pedagogical content knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The ethnographic approach has been employed, and hence, the national faculty policy guidelines have been revised through Grossman’s (1990) model. Moreover, a focus group of PSMTs’ opinions has been investigated to interpret the aforementioned situation and provide meaningful insights.
Findings
As a result, the MLS model rooted in constructivism theory has been introduced. Furthermore, supported discourse to enhance PSMTs’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of teaching statistics is described.
Originality/value
The MLS model may help to change PSMTs’ perception concerning the gap between theory and practice. Meanwhile, it could be an endeavor to reform PSMTs’ initial views regarding what learning and teaching of statistics look like, through enhancing their PCK of teaching statistics. Furthermore, engaging them in such environments to be a part of the learning community and learn more from the experts is crucial.
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Ebru Zeynep Mugaloglu and Zerrin Doganca
This study aims to enable pre‐service teachers to cooperate with teachers and to participate in solving classroom problems with the guidance of academic staff in an action…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to enable pre‐service teachers to cooperate with teachers and to participate in solving classroom problems with the guidance of academic staff in an action research (AR) project.
Design/methodology/approach
Eight pre‐service teachers took an AR course and simultaneously participated in a collaborative AR project. While learning about the steps and nature of AR, pre‐service teachers worked with teachers and designed their own project proposals in order to solve classroom problems. A questionnaire about “doing” an AR and reports prepared by the pre‐service teachers were used as instruments.
Findings
Pre‐service teachers worked on different classroom problems together with the teachers and seven out of eight ARs were presented at a national teachers' conference. Moreover, all the pre‐service teachers reported that they were eager to apply AR in their future classrooms and they decided to apply their AR proposals even though the course had finished.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited by the participants and the instruments used here.
Practical implications
AR courses enable pre‐service teachers to take an active role in authentic workplaces, thereby encouraging them towards workplace learning.
Originality/value
The study shows that collaborative AR can enable pre‐service teachers to identify and solve classroom problems, thereby providing them with an environment in which to use their theoretical knowledge gained at university. Hence, AR courses could be integrated into teacher training programs in order to fulfil the missing link between theory and practice in teacher training.
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The purpose of this paper is to review the research concerning the use of lesson studies in the education of secondary school prospective mathematics teachers. It discusses the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the research concerning the use of lesson studies in the education of secondary school prospective mathematics teachers. It discusses the adaptations made on the designs, the aims and outcomes established, the processes used, and the needed improvements in the experiences reported so far.
Design/methodology/approach
The scientific studies reviewed were identified in a Google search, using the key words “lesson study”, “mathematics”, and “secondary.” The identified material was recorded in a database and the themes for the analysis cover the planning, execution, and reflection phases of a formative process.
Findings
The paper identifies the several pending issues regarding the use of lesson studies in prospective teacher education such as defining the aims, establishing the relationships among participants, scaling, and adapting lesson studies for the particular purpose of educating future teachers.
Research limitations/implications
At a practical level, this review suggests that lesson studies in pre-service teacher education must have a clear formative aim. It also shows that many formats are possible and must be chosen according to the specific conditions. In addition, it suggests the need for research regarding the definition of the aims, the working relationships established among participants, the problem of scale, and the problem of adaptation or simplification.
Originality/value
The paper identifies the key issues in the design of lesson studies in initial teacher education. It argues that besides signaling the positive outcomes, more critical (or self-critical) investigations are needed, e.g. using external researchers as “critical friends”, which address their difficulties, limitations, and drawbacks in a more thorough way.
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Valerie Kinloch and Kerry Dixon
This paper aims to examine the cultivation of anti-racist practices with pre- and in-service teachers in post-secondary contexts, and the tensions of engaging in this work for…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the cultivation of anti-racist practices with pre- and in-service teachers in post-secondary contexts, and the tensions of engaging in this work for equity and justice in urban teacher education.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper relies on critical race theory (CRT) and critical whiteness studies (CWS), as well as auto-ethnographic and storytelling methods to examine how black in-service teachers working with a black teacher educator and white pre-service teachers working with a white teacher educator enacted strategies for cultivating anti-racist practices.
Findings
Findings indicate that for black and white educators alike, developing critical consciousness and anti-racist pedagogical practices requires naming racism as the central construct of oppression. Moreover, teachers and teacher educators demonstrated the importance of explicitly naming racism and centralizing (rather than de-centralizing) the political project of anti-racism within the current socio-political climate.
Research limitations/implications
In addition to racism, educators’ racialized identities must be centralized to support individual anti-racist pedagogical practices. Storying racism provides a context for this individualized work and provides a framework for disrupting master narratives embedded in educational institutions.
Originality/value
Much has been written about the importance of teachers connecting to students’ out-of-school lives to increase academic achievement and advance educational justice. Strategies for forging those connections include using assets-based practices and linking school curricula to students’ community and cultural identities. While these connections are important, this paper focuses on teachers’ explicit anti-racist practices in urban education.
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This paper examines how intentional mathematics coaching practices can develop teacher professional noticing of “ambitious teaching practices” (NCTM, 2020) through connected…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines how intentional mathematics coaching practices can develop teacher professional noticing of “ambitious teaching practices” (NCTM, 2020) through connected, collaborative coaching cycles.
Design/methodology/approach
Narrative analysis is used to examine observations of a mathematics coach and novice teacher to better understand the role of the coach in helping teachers attend to ambitious mathematics teaching (AMT) practices.
Findings
The initial findings of this study suggest that intentional use of focused goals, iterative coaching cycles and a gradual release model of coaching can support shifts in noticing of AMT from being led by the coach to being facilitated by the teacher.
Originality/value
This study offers new insights into the functions of mathematics coaching that can foster shifts in teacher noticing and practice toward AMT. It contributes to the literature on what mathematics coaching looks and sounds like in the context of conversations with teachers, as well as the potential influence that structured, intentional, ongoing coaching supports can have on teacher noticing.
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