Teacher noticing from a sociopolitical perspective: the FAIR framework for anti-deficit noticing

Abstract

In this paper, we respond to the continued harm of deficit discourses in mathematics education, focusing on discourses that systematically devalue the knowledge and abilities of students of color in classrooms in the United States. We specifically aim to (1) develop a sociopolitical framework for conceptualizing mathematics teacher noticing and (2) conceptualize and illustrate the enactment of noticing that challenges deficit discourses about these students and their communities—anti-deficit noticing—through the lens of our framework. We address our first research aim by introducing the FAIR framework, which foregrounds the role of sociopolitical Framing as an essential component of noticing that shapes and is shaped by Attending, Interpreting, and Responding, processes that have frequently been discussed in studies of teacher noticing. We show how an analysis using FAIR can contribute to understanding deficit noticing. We then conceptualize and illustrate anti-deficit noticing using the case of Oscar, a college mathematics instructor who worked with many Black and Hispanic students and himself identified as Hispanic. We discuss the local context that supported Oscar’s anti-deficit noticing and conclude with implications for future research and practice.