A Review of Research on Prospective Teachers’ Learning About Children’s Mathematical Thinking and Cultural Funds of Knowledge

Abstract

Researchers have studied the preparation of elementary teachers to teach mathematics to students from diverse racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds by focusing either on teachers’ learning about children’s mathematical thinking (CMT) or, less frequently, about children’s cultural funds of knowledge (CFoK) related to mathematics. Despite this important work, elementary teachers continue to be underprepared to teach mathematics effectively in diverse communities. We suggest that one way to address this persistent challenge is to integrate these two lines of work. This review focuses on research related to how prospective teachers (PSTs) learn to connect to CMT and CFoK in mathematics instruction. We use the review to describe elements of a robust theoretical framework of PST learning about CMT and CFoK, and synthesize how the studies reviewed contribute to these different elements.

Linguistically Responsive Teaching in Preservice Teacher Education: A Review of the Literature Through the Lens of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory

“…Researchers applying this framework to teacher education examine how interactions, conceptual and pragmatic tools, and activities lead to opportunities for PST learning (Ellis et al, 2010;Jahreie & Ottesen, 2010;McDonald, 2005;Turner & Drake, 2016). Liu and Fisher (2010), for example, use CHAT to understand conflicts between two teacher education activity systems, one focused on traditional pedagogical practices, and the other focused on liberal pedagogical practices.…”

Critical Science and Mathematics Early Childhood Education: Theorizing Reggio, Play, and Critical Pedagogy into an Actionable Cycle

“…Our works, and especially those detailed in this article, are well aligned to the work Bricker, Reeve and Bell (2014) used with older learners, concluding that "'youths' 'prior knowledge' cannot be separated from the cultural milieu in which it is situated" [70] (p. 1458). The indications are straightforward-we, as early childhood science and mathematics educators need to expand our conceptions of knowledge beyond merely cognitive aspects to be equally inclusive and informed by learners' social and cultural knowledges, as the fields of science and mathematics education in older grades has done [43,69,71,72]. Knowledge conceptions defined only by a learner's cognitive aspects are incomplete and elitist in favor of those in majority or power.…”

We Would If We Could: Examining Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy in a Middle School Mathematics Methods Course

“…Many mathematics pre-service teachers easily comprehend the value of multiple representations but struggle to accept the pedagogical premise of culturally responsive pedagogies. The results of numerous studies across multiple paradigms consistently conclude that preservice teachers struggle to develop proficiency in culturally responsive mathematics teaching (Enyedy & Mukhopadhyay, 2007;Parker, Bartell, & Novak, 2017;Turner, & Drake, 2016;Young, Young, Hamilton, 2013). Thus, the implementation of culturally responsive pedagogy in the mathematics classroom is not commonplace.…”