"""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"

Irving, Sonya

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/72745 Copy

Description

Title

"""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"

Author(s)

Irving, Sonya

Issue Date

2015-01-21

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Gutierrez, Rochelle

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Gutierrez, Rochelle

Committee Member(s)

• Gonzalez, Gloriana
• Higgins, Christopher R.
• Lubienski, Sarah T.

Department of Study

Curriculum and Instruction

Discipline

Curriculum and Instruction

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Equity
• Teacher preparation
• Mathematics education
• Nepantla
• Uncertainty in teaching
• Orientations
• Goals
• Student teaching

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.

Graduation Semester

2014-12

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Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2014 Sonya Eileen Irving

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