PreparingMathematics Preservice Teachers for Teaching Emergent Bilinguals Through Concurrent Intervention

Abstract

This case study investigated how middle-school mathematics preservice teachers (PSTs) help Emergent Bilinguals (EBs) understand cognitively demanding problems while they received a set of EB-focused interventions. Three PSTs, who had no prior experience of teaching mathematics to EBs, worked with EBs in a one-on-one setting while receiving individual interventions. As time evolved, the PSTs began to integrate content from students’ cultures and applied various alternative methods related to the given mathematical situations. This study suggests that preparing PSTs require an infusion of practical experiences and examples in order to teach EBs with effective culturally responsive teaching strategies.