Developing an analytical tool for radical socially-just teacher educator action research about language diverse mathematics classrooms

ABSTRACT

In our action research projects as teacher educators, we focus on broadening preservice teachers’ understandings about language diversity in mathematics classrooms, away from just improving students’ fluency in the language of instruction. To undertake these projects, we developed a flexible analytical tool, for identifying those pedagogical practices which could be improved and so broaden pre-service teachers' understandings about language diversity. By documenting the development of the analytical tool, we provide insights into how action research projects can contribute to aims for social justice. Using data from a wider project, the analytical tool is discussed in regard to its possibilities for identifying practices that could be improved, its validity and reliability, and its potential for use in other action research projects.

KEYWORDS:

• Mathematics teacher education
• language diverse classrooms
• social justice action research

Acknowledgements

This study is part of the Research Council of Norway funded project 273404 “Learning about Teaching Argumentation for Critical Mathematics Education in multilingual classrooms” (LATACME) at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study is part of the Research Council of Norway funded project 273404 “Learning about Teaching Argumentation for Critical Mathematics Education in multilingual classrooms” (LATACME). Forskingsrådet: [Grant Number 273404].