How do Mentor Teachers Implement Mathematical Tasks?: The Perspective of Preservice Mathematics Teachers

Abstract

This study aims to investigate mentor teachers’ task implementation and instructional dispositions from the perspective of preservice mathematics teachers. Twelve preservice mathematics teachers examined four mentor teachers' task selection and implementation in terms of cognitive demand and instructional dispositions that affect their cognitive demand. The data were gathered from detailed observation notes and focus group interviews of preservice teachers. The results indicated that only one teacher selected most of the tasks at a high level and maintained them without declining their cognitive demand. His instructional dispositions showed us that he displayed an approach that allowed students to explore the tasks, reason, and discuss ideas. Launching fewer problems per lesson, he enabled students to examine the tasks in depth. He discussed student-invented strategies and sometimes focused on multiple solutions and misconceptions. Instead of algorithmic solutions, he emphasized underlying concepts, multiple representations, and daily life situations. On the other hand, other teachers mostly implemented tasks at low-level, however, they had different instructional dispositions towards student explorations, classroom discussions, and utilizing multiple representations. Based on these results, this study highlights the importance of mentor teachers for the professional development of preservice teachers.