1: Cases in Mathematics Teacher Education¹

Since Lee Shulman first proposed “case knowledge” as a component of “teacher knowledge” in 1986, cases have gained momentum as important tools in the professional education of teachers. As an antidote to what many see as an overly theoretical approach to teacher education, many teacher educators have been drawn to cases because they capture the complexity and authenticity of instructional practice. Unlike theories, propositions, principles, or other abstractions, the particularities of cases vividly convey the profusion of events that constitute the moment-by-moment lived experience of classrooms. Merseth (2003, p.xvii) argues “good cases bring a ‘chunk of reality’ into the teacher education classroom to be examined, explored, and utilized as a window on practice.”