Examining teacher candidates' responses to errors during whole-class discussions through written performance tasks

Abstract

Effectively leading whole-class mathematics discussions is made more difficult when students’ contributions are incomplete, imprecise, or not yet correct, and not easily correctable—what we call “errors.” Through purposefully designed opportunities to investigate, enact, and reflect on teaching, teacher candidates (TCs) can develop skill to productively respond to errors in whole- class discussions. We investigate how TCs respond to errors when engaging in a written performance task that calls for TCs to play out discussions in response to a classroom scenario. We consider what the performance task reveals about TCs’ practice and perspectives, with implications regarding theory and practice.