Recontextualizing Practices: Learning to Teach Rigorous and Accessible Mathematics in the High School

Ilana Horn

Educational innovations require tremendous work to be implemented successfully. I conceptualize the problem of implementation as a problem of teacher learning and seek to describe the process of that learning in fine-grained detail. Using a comparative case study design, I will examine how 8 high school mathematics teachers learn to use equitable teaching practices as they move from formal training into their school and classroom settings. The research builds on data from two longitudinal ethnographic studies, one focused on the pre-service teachers’ learning and another on in-service teachers’ learning. Although differently structured, the formal training for both groups focuses on practices known to increase students’ mathematical achievement. The varied success of the teachers allows for analysis of the individual and contextual factors that support the implementation of novel and complex teaching practices. This study will contribute to educational research by specifying the different outcomes for the teachers in both their understanding and application of these practices, and by detailing the way teachers transform the practices as they move from formal educational settings into their school and classroom contexts. A close analysis of this process will contribute to our theoretical understanding of adult learning and inform the design of professional education.

About Ilana Horn

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