Building coherence in research on mathematics teacher characteristics by developing practice-based approaches

摘要

Scholars have debated which teacher characteristics are primary in determining teachers’ practice. Some claim that identity is at the core of teachers’ ways of being and acting; others argue that teachers’ actions depend principally on their knowledge or beliefs. We argue that, whichever is examined, it is important to study how teachers use specific characteristics in their work, and how the work of teaching is shaped by that use. We claim that this can be done by addressing research questions about teacher characteristics in ways that provide insight into how they contribute to shaping interactions in classrooms—what we call a practice-based approach. To develop and illustrate our argument, we discuss studies that exemplify what we mean by a practice-based approach to the study of a teacher characteristic and we unpack ways in which these studies distinctively contribute to understanding and improving practice. Further, we explore ways in which the development of practice-based approaches might support coherence across efforts to study different characteristics and innovation in studies that consider the interplay of different teacher characteristics in teaching.