Nos/otrx knowing in mathematics education: Interdependence among mathematics teacher educators, secondary teachers, and students of color

This is a three-study dissertation. In three different mathematics education contexts (i.e., seminar, after-school mathematics club, and mathematics classroom) with three different groups of participants (i.e., teacher educators, preservice teachers, and beginning teachers), I analyze how they engage in moments of interdependence. These studies seek to challenge the taken for granted binary of teacher-student dynamics where the teacher is the expert, and the student is the novice. Guided by the theoretical framework of nos/otrx (interdependence) (Anzaldúa, 2002; Keating, 2000, 2005) across all three studies, I contend there is another possible teacher-student dynamic where they work interdependently and grapple with each other’s conception of mathematics (content and problem solving). The three studies are situated in an anti-racist mathematics teacher education program at a major Midwest university . A total of five cohorts consisting of 19 preservice secondary mathematics teachers participated in the program (not all participated in the following studies). They engaged in a variety of the program’s components (e.g., seminar, individualized mentoring sessions, after-school mathematics club, critical professional development, and mentorship with a nationally board certified mathematics teacher) to explore a variety of topics that intersect mathematics education (e.g., race, gender, class, immigration). The first study is an investigation using systemic functional linguistics, specifically the system of negotiation, to analyze how facilitators and preservice secondary mathematics teachers negotiate interdependence when it comes to doing mathematical problems or attending to pedagogical situations that arise in teaching. The second study is a qualitative interview study that focuses on some of these same participants and their experiences engaging in moments of interdependence with Black and Latinx middle school-aged youth at an after-school mathematics club. The third study is qualitative and longitudinal, focusing on a different cohort of participants from the same program and how their attempts to work interdependently in the after-school mathematics club related to the ways they worked with students as first year teachers. Findings indicate that working interdependently is possible but can be difficult to maintain and enact consistently. The first study suggested that during the mathematics problem, the pre-service teachers were dependent on the teacher facilitator and during the discussion of a pedagogical scenario, the pre-service teachers were positioned as experts more often as well as interdependent on each other. The finding of the second study at an after-school mathematics club, documented that preservice secondary mathematics teachers were able to grapple with their own as well as the youth’s conception of mathematics when solving puzzles or playing board games together. The third study showed that beginning secondary mathematics teachers worked interdependently with students in mathematics classrooms, but not consistently. These studies challenged the notion that there are only two possible dynamics between teachers and students (the teacher as expert/authority or student as novice/subject). Furthermore, the third study suggests that practices introduced to preservice teachers during a community-based field experience may persist into their first year of teaching. These studies offer implications for research, policy, and teaching.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum and Instruction

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Gerardo, Juan Manuel

Contributors dc:contributor

• Gutiérrez, Rochelle
• Lubienski, Sarah T
• McCarthy, Cameron
• Civil, Marta

• nos/otrx, interdependence, pre-service secondary mathematics teachers, mathematics education, nos/otras, nosotras

Statement dc:rights

• (Copyrigh 2021 Gerardo, Juan Manuel)

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113306

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/113306