Exploring responsive mathematics teaching

Abstract

Responsive mathematics teaching places students’ ideas and scientific thinking in a central position. It is based upon the expectation that students have resourceful scientific thinking. The responsive teacher advances the acquisition of mathematical knowledge by pursuing the substance of students’ ideas and fostering the practices of the mathematical community. This study focuses on illustrating the responsive mathematics teaching accounts of a second graders teacher.

To fulfil this aim, the teaching structure of one teacher has been thoroughly scrutinized and presented in detail. The data, collected through a semi structured interview, classroom observation and field notes, has been analysed by following the principles of qualitative content analysis.

This research’s main findings outline the participants’ responsive mathematics teaching practices. They illustrate different levels, activities and strategies the participant utilizes to teach responsively and the different solutions she has found to overcome the challenges of teaching responsively.

By scrutinizing practitioners’ accounts we can better understand the aspects involved in responsive teaching and the implications for the everyday classwork. Teachers’ subject knowledge, expertise and willingness to provide significant learning experiences for students seem to be central aspects of teachers becoming responsive to students’ thinking.