According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)standard of communication, ??Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten throughgrade 12 should enable all students to...communicate their mathematical thinkingcoherently and clearly to peers, teachers, and others?? and students need to learn ??what isacceptable as evidence in mathematics?? (NCTM, 2000, p. 60). But do teachers have aclear understanding of what is acceptable or do they believe that the only acceptableexplanations are the ones that they themselves gave to the students? Can teachers acceptalternative forms of explanation and methods of solution as mathematically accurate ordo they want students to simply restate the teachers?? understandings of mathematics andthe problem? The focus of this dissertation is the authoritative discourse practices ofclassroom teachers as they relate to individual students and large and small groups ofstudents.In this case study, I examine the interactions in one eighth-grade mathematicsclassroom and the possible sharing of mathematical authority and development ofmathematical agency that take place via the teacher??s uses of authoritative discourse. A guiding objective of this research was to examine the ways a teacher??s discursivepractices were aligned with her pedagogical intentions.The teacher for this study was an experienced eighth-grade mathematics teacherat a rural Central Texas middle school. The teacher was a participant in the MiddleSchool Mathematics Project at Texas A&M University. Results of an analysis of thediscourse of six selected classes were combined with interview and observation data andcurriculum materials to inform the research questions.I found that through the teacher??s regular use of authoritative discursive devices,mathematical authority was infrequently shared. Also the teacher??s uses of authoritativediscourse helped create an environment where mathematical agency was not encouragedor supported. The teacher??s use of various discursive devices helped establish andmaintain a hierarchy of mathematical authority with students at the lowest level relianton others for various mathematical decisions.
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