Learning to teach mathematics is a complex endeavor, requiring sustained focus and time. Yet time is especially scarce in elementary teacher education programs, where preservice teachers (PSTs) learn all content areas. Through a collaborative self-study, five teacher educators identified three time-related tensions in elementary mathematics methods courses: (a) teaching mathematics content and pedagogy; (b) connecting theory and practice; and (c) promoting social contexts in teaching mathematics. To address these tensions, we offer three design principles and illustrative examples: (a) addressing multiple goals for each course component; (b) developing PSTs’ dispositions over time; and (c) building on PSTs’ strengths to develop understanding of mathematics. We present a reflection tool to assist matsshematics teacher educators in designing their courses to maximize their instructional time.
Evthokia Stephanie Saclarides, Brette Garner, Gladys Krause, Claudia Bertolone-Smith, and Jen Munson
Stephanie Casey and Andrew Ross
There is a lack of teacher education materials that develop equity literacy in content courses for preservice secondary mathematics teachers. In response, we created teacher education curriculum materials for introductory statistics that include an integrated focus on developing equity literacy and critical statistical literacy.
In this article, we provide an overview of our materials’ design along with a detailed look at one activity regarding racial demographics and tracking in high school STEM courses. We present evidence regarding the positive impact of these materials on the teacher candidates’ competency, value, and likelihood of applying their equity literacy and critical statistical literacy. Implications for mathematics teacher educators working to develop equity literacy together with content knowledge are discussed.
Kevin Voogt and Kristen Bieda
This article explores one novice mathematics teacher educator’s initial use of the Mathematical Quality in Planning Protocol, an innovative tool that was developed to assist in providing feedback on the mathematical quality of novice mathematics teachers’ lesson plans. The protocol was devised to help mathematics teacher educators bridge the gap between prospective teachers’ mathematical content knowledge and their mathematical content knowledge for teaching. Results of our analysis on an initial use of the protocol point to its potential as a tool to help mathematics teacher educators direct their feedback from being overly focused on the pedagogical aspects of the lesson (e.g., timing, planned activities) to the mathematical content prospective teachers are attempting to teach (e.g., anticipated student solutions, problem-solving strategies).
Michael D. Steele, Kate R. Johnson, Leilani C. Fonbuena, and Caroline S. Gneiting
We would like to begin our first editorial by sharing what an honor it is to serve as the fourth editorial team for
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Journal Issue
Travis Weiland and Lisa L. Poling
The spaces we inhabit and the physical communities in which we learn all affect how we come to experience the world, construct what mathematics is to us, and develop how we teach mathematics. In this theory-to-practice article, we discuss why explicitly considering spatial ways of knowing is important in mathematics teacher education. We begin by providing theoretical arguments for the importance of considering space in mathematics education. We then present a rationale for why considering space is so important in mathematics teacher education, specifically discussing links to the practice of teaching mathematics. Examples of how to consider tasks related to spatial justice are provided to help reimagine what an mathematics teacher education task can look like.
Journal Issue
A. Susan Gay, Jeanine Haistings, and Jason L. Rucker
The authors describe a fourth-grade lesson that promotes understanding of angle as a dynamic figure through use of a real-world tool used by physical therapists to measure joint motion.
Gina M. Borgioli and Introduction by: Krystal Jones Carter
From the Archives highlights articles from NCTM’s legacy journals, previously discussed by the MTLT Journal Club.
Francis Su
Ear to the Ground features voices from serveral corners of the mathematics education world.
