Case 7: Using Number Talks to Engage Preservice Teachers in Purposeful Planning to Lead Mathematics Discussions

Mathematical discourse, based on carefully selected tasks carried out in a supportive classroom community, builds a shared understanding of important mathematical ideas and provides students with opportunities to communicate and justify their thinking. Stein (2007) defines mathematical discourse as “the way students represent, think, talk, question, agree, and disagree in the classroom.” In terms of Hattie’s (2017) research, classroom discussion yielded an effect size that was more than double that of attending a typical year of school.

As stated in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics document Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Sense for All(NCTM, 2014), establishing and maintaining a classroom culture in which mathematical discourse plays a central role is challenging. Though we have often facilitated model discussions with students in our methods courses, our planning process and methods for leading those discussions were not apparent to our teacher candidates (TCs). Without explicitly unpacking methods by which TCs can enact this high-leverage practice themselves, a change in the frequency with which teachers implement purposeful discourse in early childhood classrooms is unlikely. Our dilemma, then, was how to help TCs begin to understand the impact of meaningful mathematical discussions and facilitate such discussions in their clinical placements.