"How will I know my students are successful?" Examining the conceptions of success held by pre-service secondary mathematics teachers in an equity-oriented professional development program
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: This study investigates the conceptions of success in mathematics that pre-service teachers hold for marginalized students. Participants are two white, male pre-service secondary mathematics teachers who intend to work in high needs schools and are participating in an equity-oriented professional learning program at a large Midwestern university. Gaining an understanding of how pre-service teachers’ views of success in mathematics evolve over the course of their two-year sojourn in the program can help build understanding of how teacher educators can better support pre-service teachers to broaden their conceptions of success in mathematics. To that end, this study addresses the following questions: What conceptions of success do pre-service mathematics teachers who intend to teach in high needs schools hold for marginalized students? Do their conceptions of success evolve as they participate in an equity-oriented professional learning community? If so, how do their conceptions of success change? I employ a case study method along with a three-dimensional conceptual framework for considering success: academic achievement, mathematical power, and critical consciousness. One participant’s experiences in the program highlight the potential value of uncertainty for those entering the teaching profession. The second participant’s experiences connect to Schoenfeld’s (2011) Resources, Orientations, and Goals framework, highlighting the tensions in daily decision-making in which pre-service teachers engage when their own orientations are not in alignment with those of their mentor teachers. Findings suggest that conceptions of success may be situational rather than developmental. I discuss limitations as well as implications for teacher education practice and further research.
Author: Sonya E. Irving
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2285513517