Eliciting student thinking in support of adaptive expertise in teacher candidates

Abstract

Having skilled mathematics instruction at the elementary level is entirely dependent on teacher preparation. Understanding how teachers develop the adaptive expertise necessary to skillfully instruct elementary mathematics students is important for teacher education programs. Qualitative data analyses were applied to 31 elementary teacher candidates’ teaching. Split into two cohorts, one cohort experienced sustained instruction in developing their practice of eliciting student thinking. Findings suggest that teachers do not go from lecturing to skilled eliciting. Instead, there is a developmental process of moving from making space for students’ voices in the classroom to using student contributions to focus on mathematical content.