Tracing Teacher Learning through Shifts in Discourses: The Case of a Mathematics Teacher

Abstract

Background:This study presents a methodology for investigating teacher learning in and from practice based on discourses that are in constant flux and transformation. Conceptualizing teacher learning as a frame of meaning based on knowing and doing discourses, the ideas are illustrated through data collected from a secondary mathematics teacher conducting an inquiry of self-practice.Material and methods:Narrative analysis of the data from the teacher interviews was conducted along with classroom observations of the teacher’s mathematical practiceResults:The data supported that tracing shifts in teacher discourses enables to understand the connection between the teacher’s past discourses and the present discourses when identifying teacher learning.Conclusions:It is concluded that tracking teacher learning through two complementary discourses of the teacher’s instructional practice enabled a unification of individual and collective levels of the teacher learning by self-inquiry of own practice. Moreover, through the continuum of discourses, this study provided insights about the generation of new meanings through transformation of old meanings in the teacher learning.