Discuss with your colleagues: Algebra for all: A Discourse on Discourse: Wrestling with Teaching Rational Equations

Abstract

The teacher's role in discourse is to initiate and orchestrate classroom interactions that contribute to students' understanding of mathematics (NCTM 1991). Establishing and maintaining this multifaceted role can be difficult. Individual differences in students, teachers. and classroom cultures make it impossible to create steadfast rules for guiding classroom practices. The shared experiences of other teachers—who are also struggling to establish an interactive classroom discourse—are becoming our most valuable resources.