Chapter 21: The “Mirror Test”: A Tool for Reflection on Our Sociopolitical Identities as Mathematics Teacher Educators

This chapter builds upon sociopolitical perspectives to elucidate how the “mirror test” informs our approaches to mathematics methods instruction and might serve to shape the development of professional ethics for mathematics teacher educators (MTE). Sharing examples from our practice, we raise questions regarding intersections of sociopolitical perspectives and mathematics teacher education as a field of scholarship and practice. The three of us self-identify as early career mathematics educators who teach mathematics methods courses. We consider our histories as former public school teachers to be an important component of our professional identities. At the same time, we lay claim to differences in our professional and personal identities. Brian identifies with secondary education, whereas Theodore and Andrea work more in elementary education. We each lie at unique points in the intersection of gender, race, and other identifications. We self-identify as critical mathematics educators yet recognize the limitations of that label. That is, we are more interested in engaging MTEs in conversation than in definitional disagreements.