Love It, Like It, or Leave It — Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Field-Based Perspectives toward the Integration of Literature in Mathematics

Abstract

ABSTRACTIntegrating literature in mathematics is a powerful strategy used by many teachers to meet the reformative goals outlined by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This article reports a teacher education study in which 15 elementary preservice teachers engaged in a task that challenged them to link the pedagogical strategy of integrating literature in mathematics to their field-based utilization of the practice. Qualitative data gathered during participants’ concurrent enrollment in a mathematics methods course and a field-based practicum course and recorded through reflections and focus-group sessions revealed variances in participants’ perspectives toward the practice. Results indicate that the participants’ perspectives were overwhelmingly positive and variances were linked to the participants’ personal growth and development as educators. Implications and suggestions allow teacher educators to utilize perspective variances to support preservice teachers’ abilities to link the theories espoused in methods courses to the classroom utilization of said theories.