Making sense of elementary pre-service teachers’ mathematical wounds: A proposed framework for practice

Abstract

We, six elementary mathematics teacher educators (MTEs), noticed that many of our elementary pre-service teachers (EPSTs) were limited by their views of mathematics, typically as the result of their prior experiences with learning mathematics. Much of the research around such limiting views focuses primarily on negative experiences or treats such views as associated with individual factors (e.g., self-efficacy, mathematics anxiety, and views about problem solving). Using a (re)humanizing mathematics perspective, we sought to identify these limiting views of mathematics in a more holistic approach, considering the complexity of views that EPSTs hold. In this article, we introduce a framework, developed through collaborative self-study methodology, to give shared language to the types of mathematical wounds EPSTs may have. Utilizing this framework, MTEs can support EPSTs’ mathematical healing by enacting intentional instructional practices. We provide three general approaches to frame these intentional practices as well as reflection questions to support other MTEs in reconsidering their own courses and how they may take EPSTs’ mathematical wounds and healing into account.