Chapter 6: Preparing Preservice Stem Teachers: Rehearsing Whole Class Discussion

Changes in teacher preparation over the last decade (Ball & Cohen, 1999; Ball et al., 2008; National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE], 2010; Shulman, 1987) have prompted teacher education programs to utilize a practice-based approach to teacher preparation that seamlessly integrates the knowledge needed for teaching with the pedagogical actions teachers take when implementing high-quality instruction (Ball & Forzani 2009; Grossman et al., 2009a; McDonald et al. 2013). This shift places complex and high-quality instructional practices, termed core practices, at the center of teacher preparation. Accordingly, practice-based teacher preparation programs provide preservice teachers opportunities to learn about, rehearse, and improve their use of core practices to support student sense-making prior to beginning work in their own STEM classrooms.