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1. Conceptualizing Mathematics Modules that Integrate Professional Noticing and Equity

   Jong, C.; Fisher, M.H.; Thomas, J.; Schack, E.; Mask, W. (January 2021, Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Meeting of PME-NA)

   Olanoff, D.; Johnson, K.; & Spitzer, S. (Ed.)

   In this paper, we describe the theory guiding the development of microlearning modules connecting noticing and equity in mathematics. Gutiérrez’s (2009) four dimensions of equity framework is used to inform the modules. The professional noticing of children’s mathematical thinking (Jacobs, Lamb, & Philipp, 2010) is also woven into the module development. We analyze data from preservice elementary teachers’ ideas about equity and responses to a video to inform our project and discuss the importance of making equity explicit in mathematics methods courses. Results indicate that preservice elementary teachers’ ideas of equity primarily fall into the dominant axes of access and achievement, but also show evidence of the critical axes of identity and power in responses to the classroom video. 

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2. Conceptualizing mathematics modules that integrate professional noticing and equity.

   Jong, C. (January 2021, Psychology of Mathematics Education North America Chapter)

   Olanoff, D. (Ed.)

   In this paper, we describe the theory guiding the development of microlearning modules connecting noticing and equity in mathematics. Gutiérrez’s (2009) four dimensions of equity framework is used to inform the modules. The professional noticing of children’s mathematical thinking (Jacobs, Lamb, & Philipp, 2010) is also woven into the module development. We analyze data from preservice elementary teachers’ ideas about equity and responses to a video to inform our project and discuss the importance of making equity explicit in mathematics methods courses. Results indicate that preservice elementary teachers’ ideas of equity primarily fall into the dominant axes of access and achievement, but also show evidence of the critical axes of identity and power in responses to the classroom video. 

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3. Preservice Teachers’ Attention to Children’s Expansive Sensemaking in Elementary Science

   Bautista, J; Davis, E A (March 2024, NARST annual meeting)

   Preservice elementary science teachers’ beliefs and practices influence the kinds of adaptations they make to curricula and the extent to which they are able to enact science lessons in justice-oriented ways. Through this qualitative study, we explored the beliefs and practices of five focal preservice teachers through an analysis of their lesson plans, recorded enactments, and interviews about their science teaching throughout their student teaching experience. We also introduce a framework for expansive sensemaking that integrates beliefs and practices related to four key themes: (1) believing in children’s brilliance, (2) building a collaborative classroom culture, (3) expanding what counts as science, and (4) positioning children as epistemic agents. While teachers varied in their beliefs about and approaches to each of these themes, they demonstrated strengths that illustrate what may be possible for early career teachers, like working to integrate many ways of knowing and being into science lessons, connecting to embodied knowledge, or supporting children to be scientific decision-makers. We discuss implications for teacher preparation programs and for theory development related to justice-oriented teaching in general and expansive sensemaking in particular. 

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4. AN EMERGING METHODOLOGY FOR THE STUDY OF PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ LEARNING ABOUT EQUITY IN STEM EDUCATION

   Gutiérrez, J.F.; Barth-Cohen, L.A.; Francom, R.; Greenberg, K.; MacArthur, K.; & Dobie, T. (January 2019, Proceedings of the 41st annual meeting of the North-American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education)

   A major challenge for elementary STEM teacher educators is incorporating social justice considerations across the span of professional program coursework. Recognizing that standards and policy documents are pressing for diversity and inclusion in STEM education, there is a growing need to support preservice teachers’ learning about critical theories and how to develop an equitable vision of teaching. This paper describes ongoing research on our University’s elementary STEM teacher education program. We focus our discussion on instrument development and the methods we used for eliciting preservice teachers’ understandings of equity and diversity issues related to teaching STEM content. We designed a number of math, science, and technology scenarios in tandem, as means of building coherence across disciplinary boundaries; this report focuses on math teaching and learning. 

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5. Toward a justice‐centered ambitious teaching framework: Shaping ambitious science teaching to be culturally sustaining and productive in a rural context

   https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21917  

   Luehmann, April; Zhang, Yang; Boyle, Heather; Tulbert, Eve; Merliss, Gena; Sullivan, Kyle (November 2023, Journal of Research in Science Teaching)

   Abstract We find ourselves at a time when the need for transformation in science education is aligning with opportunity. Significant science education resources, namely the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Ambitious Science Teaching (AST) framework, need an intentional aim of centering social justice for minoritized communities and youth as well as practices to enact it. While NGSS and AST provide concrete guidelines to support deep learning, revisions are needed to explicitly promote social justice. In this study, we sought to understand how a commitment to social justice, operationalized through culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, Culturally sustaining pedagogies and our futures.The Educational Forum, 2021; 85, pp. 364–376), might shape the AST framework to promote more critical versions of teaching science for equity. Through a qualitative multi‐case study, we observed three preservice teacher teams engaged in planning, teaching, and debriefing a 6‐day summer camp in a rural community. Findings showed that teachers shaped the AST sets of practices in ways that sustained local culture and addressed equity aims: anchoring scientific study in phenomena important to community stakeholders; using legitimizing students' stories by both using them to plan the following lessons and as data for scientific argumentation; introducing local community members as scientific experts, ultimately supporting a new sense of pride and advocacy for their community; and supporting students in publicly communicating their developing scientific expertise to community stakeholders. In shaping the AST framework through culturally sustaining pedagogy, teachers made notable investments: developing local networks; learning about local geography, history, and culture; building relationships with students; adapting lessons to incorporate students' ideas; connecting with community stakeholders to build scientific collaborations; and preparing to share their work publicly with the community. Using these findings, we offer a justice‐centered ambitious science teaching (JuST) framework that can deliver the benefits of a framework of practices while also engaging in the necessarily more critical elements of equity work. 

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