Julie M. Amador

Video simulations to develop preservice mathematics teachers’ discourse practices

Abstract The incorporation of video technology in teacher education programmes is increasingly prevalent, with teacher educators commonly using three traditional forms of videos: published video, preservice teachers’ own videos and colleagues’ videos. This study explored a fourth type of video, self-created scripted video simulations in which preservice teachers designed, acted in and filmed mathematics classroom scenarios. The intent was to understand how preservice teachers perceived the process and how they worked through the video simulation process. Preservice teachers considered the technology use beneficial and valued learning from the experience, thus showing promise for incorporating video simulations in teacher education programmes.

Preservice teachers’ video simulations and subsequent noticing: a practice-based method to prepare mathematics teachers

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to implement a Video Simulation Task in a mathematics methods teacher education course to engage preservice teachers in considering both the teaching and learning aspects of mathematics lesson delivery. Participants anticipated student and teacher thinking and created simulations, in which they acted out scenes on a specific mathematics standard. They then viewed their own simulations and those of their classmates with a focus on the most salient moments of students’ thinking. The research focused on the contents of collaboratively-created video simulations and the focus of preservice teachers’ attention when viewing said simulations. Results indicate that preservice teachers primarily focus on classroom elements and the teacher when viewing the simulation content, which raises questions for how to support an emphasis on students’ mathematical thinking.

Curricular Noticing: Theory on and Practice of Teachers’ Curricular Use

This chapter presents a new theoretical construct, curricular noticing, used to understand how teachers interact with curriculum materials, and shares findings from four coordinated research studies. Curricular noticing draws from work on professional noticing of children’s mathematical thinking and is defined as how teachers make sense of the complexity of content and pedagogical opportunities in written or digital curricular materials. This construct is situated within existing literature on curriculum use, documenting growing concerns about teachers’ curricular reasoning and decision-making. Taken together, these studies explore the curricular noticing of 62 preservice teachers (PSTs) in elementary and secondary mathematics methods courses at four institutions. Participants engaged in one of two aspects of noticing: (a) attending and interpreting in the context of particular tasks; or (b) noticing (attend, interpret and respond) in the context of multiple published curricula. Data include pre/post measures, video of interventions, and written assignments that were collected and qualitatively analyzed. Dimensions of curricular noticing highlight the importance of noticing at the task level and raise questions around curricular sequencing and comparisons of curricula. Findings imply that PSTs would benefit from evaluating curriculum materials using specifically designed analysis tools, and highlight the importance of curricular noticing as a framing for understanding PSTs practices with curricula.

Following a Teacher’s Mathematical and Scientific Noticing Across Career Progression from Field Experiences to Classroom Teaching

In this study, we focus on one preservice teacher’s noticing of students’ mathematical and scientific thinking with an emphasis on how the acts of attending and interpreting can influence decisions about pedagogical actions. The study centers on an innovative field experience approach that incorporates lesson study in order to emphasize students’ thinking and its impact. Consequently, we were interested in understanding how one teacher made decisions based on her noticing at three points in her career: preservice field experiences, student teaching, and her first-year teaching. We used a case study approach to focus on one preservice teacher. Findings indicate that scaffolding PSTs to notice students’ mathematical and scientific thinking influenced how she noticed and considered students’ thinking while teaching. Results further indicate that supporting the development of noticing during field experiences has a positive impact on a teacher when she was in her own classroom. The study provides a unique contribution to the field as it incorporates both the mathematics and science teaching practices of the same PST from her teacher education experience into her career.

Analyzing Preservice Mathematics Teachers’ Professional Noticing

ABSTRACT Recent research in mathematics education has highlighted the importance of teachers’ abilities to professionally notice students’ thinking. This study examined what preservice teachers professionally notice during lesson study to further describe their attention to students’ mathematical thinking, their interpretations about students’ reasoning, and the resulting decisions they make. Findings indicate preservice teachers commonly provided evaluative comments but were able to engage in some instances of more advanced Noticing in which they detailed students’ strategies and analyzed evidence of student thinking to formulate interpretations about mathematical thinking. Analysis of these findings resulted in a framework for analyzing the content of focused and extended professional Noticing.

Professional Development of Multi-experienced Educators through a Book Study: Fostering Mentoring Relationships

A mentorship professional development model was provided to a group of educators at various stages in their career paths, ranging from pre-service teachers to in-service teachers to teacher leaders. We were interested in exploring how participants’ interactions during a book study influenced their perceptions of practice, with a specific aim at understanding what they noticed from these interactions and how they conceptualized their thoughts from the mentorship experience. Findings indicated that participants situated themselves with a receiver, neutral, or giver perspective, which influenced how they interacted with others. In the process, participants valued the security fostered from the relationships, generated new relationships with others with varying experiences, engaged in reflective practice, and considered exposure to other perspectives to be beneficial.

Action research through a collaborative structured teacher leader program to support mathematics instruction

ABSTRACT This study examines teacher leaders who engaged in a professional development program focused on conducting action research related to mathematics instruction. More specifically the study focused on how teacher leaders described their experience with a collaborative-structured action research process as part of a professional development program and how they described the influence of the experience on their practice. Using an embedded multiple-case design of case study, multiple sources of data were collected and analyzed from this year-long study of eight teacher leaders from diverse contexts, as they developed and implemented action research projects. Findings suggest that participation in the professional development project, and accompanying study, influenced the practices of the teacher leaders in several ways including an increase in their intentionality with decision making, set them on a trajectory toward seeking continual improvement, and supported them to develop increased knowledge. The teacher leaders considered the structural aspects of learning to conduct research and opportunities for collaboration to support their experience. Implications are provided to describe the possible affordances and opportunities for consideration for implementation of action research as professional learning.

Shifting Perspectives on Preservice Teachers’ Noticing of Children’s Mathematical Thinking

Noticing children’s mathematical thinking is an important aspect of what teachers need to know. Researchers generally agree that noticing involves two main processes, namely attending to and making sense of particular events in an instructional setting. We report on our work involving preservice teacher noticing and our efforts to scaffold their noticing. We argue for a shift in perspective on preservice teacher noticing, a perspective that considers interpreting classroom events as an important first step for preservice teachers in their development of noticing, which then positions preservice teachers to attend to important and noteworthy events.