The use of a scriptwriting task as a window into how prospective teachers envision teacher moves for supporting student reasoning

Abstract

AbstractThe development of mathematical reasoning skills has increasingly been of focus for the teaching and learning of mathematics. This research utilizes a teaching simulation using the methodology of scriptwriting, in which prospective teachers are asked to complete a script of a dialogue from a classroom simulation involving fraction multiplication and division with justification, assisting fictional students to work through their difficulties and helping them to justify their reasoning. Such tasks allow for the examination of the prospective teacher moves to support student reasoning through their imagined action and choice of words. Scripts from forty-one prospective primary teachers were examined for the study, and five clusters based on the type of teacher move for supporting student reasoning were found. Overall, the prospective teachers emphasized the elicitation and facilitation of students’ ideas. The cluster analysis, however, provided a nuanced examination of the cohort’s teacher moves. While cluster one saw the highest incident of eliciting teacher moves, albeit only in the low potential category, clusters two and three mostly used facilitating teacher moves, but varied in their use of high and low potential moves. Cluster four concentrated moves on facilitating, eliciting, and responding to student reasoning. Cluster five employed teacher moves from all main categories, with some instances of high potential moves in all categories except extending student reasoning, which can better support reasoning. The prospective mathematics teachers’ scripts and the five clusters that were found during analysis are discussed with implications for future teacher education and the support of building mathematical reasoning.