<p>Early childhood teachers pursuing
associate degrees often repeated the college algebra course, demanding, “Why do
we have to take this? We don’t teach algebra!” Expectations for their training were
not well-aligned with their mathematics preparation or teaching work. I have taught
the mathematics courses and young children and have worked for an early
childhood practice, policy, and research agency. I wanted to learn about these
teachers’ experiences as mathematics learners and teachers, with a goal to share
the complex nature of their work with teacher educators and other stakeholders
to identify better avenues for their mathematics training. I explored the
questions: (1) What role, if any, do mathematical learning experiences play in
early childhood teachers’ mathematics teaching practice? (2) In what ways do
their voices contribute to the professional dialogue regarding teaching
mathematics with young children? </p>
<p>Dewey’s (1938/1998) <i>experience</i>
construct provided lenses to examine early childhood teachers’ experiences
learning and teaching mathematics. <i>Continuity</i>, <i>interaction</i>, <i>social
control</i>, <i>freedom</i>, <i>purpose</i>, and <i>subject matter</i> provided
insights and situated teachers’ experiences within a disparate patchwork of settings
and policies. Two family childcare providers participated in this narrative
inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly) through an interview on their experiences
learning and teaching mathematics and three classroom observations. After
analyzing data for Dewey’s (1938/1998) <i>experience</i> constructs, I used
narrative analysis (Polkinghorne, 1995) and teaching images (Clandinin, 1985)
to write an emplotted narrative for each teacher, Josie and Patsy.</p>
Josie told
a turning point story (Drake, 2006) of making mathematics “real,” influencing
her mathematics teaching practice as she integrated “real” mathematics into everyday
activities. Patsy’s appreciation for mathematics and building was seen in her
story of a child explaining he used the wide blocks for his base, elaborating, “He's telling me HOW he's building.” While Josie and Patsy had few opportunities to
learn about teaching mathematics with young children, they were eager to learn.
I propose a training for early childhood teachers, iteratively working as a
group to investigate a personal mathematics teaching puzzle or celebration,
building on their mathematical personal practical knowledge. Adding my own story to
those of the teachers, like Josie’s and Patsy’s, of our work together, will add
to my understanding and development of my practice as a curriculum maker
(Clandinin & Connelly, 1992), as early childhood teachers’ voices
contribute to the professional dialogue about teaching mathematics with young
children.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/15098289 |
| Date | 04 August 2021 |
| Creators | Sue Ellen Richardson (11225625) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/MAKING_MATH_REAL_EARLY_CHILDHOOD_TEACHERS_EXPERIENCES_LEARNING_AND_TEACHING_MATHEMATICS/15098289 |
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