The complexity of supporting reasoning in a mathematics classroom of shared authority

Abstract

The paper addresses the potential relationships between shared authority in mathematics classrooms and students’ mathematical reasoning. Even though tensions and challenges related to shared authority are explicated in the literature, there are few examples of how these issues play out in mathematics teaching. We investigate the case of a mathematics teacher attempting to share authority as well as applying several moves recognized as supporting meaningful student learning. Data has been collected in a fourth-grade Norwegian classroom and is analyzed by means of open coding, inspired by literature. We identify the moves used by the teacher, and we rank these moves along two dimensions: (1) their potential to support mathematical reasoning and (2) their potential for sharing authority. From this, we uncover how a teacher’s work of orchestrating mathematical discussions involves moves in all four quadrants, and we discuss how the interplay of moves affects the authority structures and the collaborative reasoning in the classroom.