Over half a century has passed since Bruner suggested his three-stage enactive-iconic-symbolic model of instruction. In more recent research, predominantly in educational psychology, Bruner's model has been reformulated into the theory of instruction known as concreteness fading (CF). In a recent constructivist teaching experiment investigating…

The present study is motivated by a significant body of research documenting teachers' perennial difficulties with a critical swath of topics related to multiplication. In response, we track how Nina, a future middle grades mathematics teacher, made progress constructing explanations across topics by reasoning with measurement-based definitions of…

There has been an increase in research regarding the use of virtual platforms as a means of collaboration between middle level learners and preservice teachers. However, little attention has been given to the role of asynchronous collaborations in the form of virtual literature discussions and the preservice teacher experience. Through a…

Pre-symbolic algebra has been advocated for as a mathematics topic elementary students should experience to better prepare them for middle and high school algebra. However, most elementary pre-service teachers have little to no experience with pre-symbolic algebra. The study reported here analysed the struggles that ten elementary pre-service…

We set out to create a middle grades program and to inform the field about the perceptions of our teacher candidates on teaching middle school. To accomplish these twin goals, we sought to better understand our teacher candidates' perceptions of teaching middle school and how these perceptions might be changed if necessary. Our review of research…

We focus on how democratic practices occur during the modeling activity "The Candy Bag of Dreams." With democratic practices, we refer to approaches supporting inclusivity and active participation aimed at empowering students. We investigated one group of preservice teachers implementing an optimizing modeling activity during practicum…

Over the past two decades, the landscape of research on mathematics teacher educators (MTE) has grown considerably. One particular area of interest has focused on the knowledge needed by MTEs for their work with preservice K-8 teachers (PTs). In an effort to understand this varied landscape, we conducted an extensive review of research on…

This article reports on how a pedagogical entrepreneurship approach combined with fundamental elements of mathematical modelling may be used to strengthen students' development of mathematical literacy in upper primary school. This is done first through a review of the relationship between pedagogical entrepreneurship in mathematics, mathematical…

To enhance partnerships in two rural schools, our college of education initiated a faculty-in-residence program. A group of faculty members visited two other colleges of education with established faculty-in-residence programs to learn from others and to discern a direction for our own work. Two teacher educators, each at a different partner…

This study examined preservice teachers' instruction of goals in specific learning domains in physical education class and students' interpretation of these goals. Four preservice physical education teachers (all male) from a large urban university taught two lessons to eight sixth-grade students at an urban K-6 elementary school. The theory of…

This paper investigates the experiences of six British-trained teachers who moved from teaching GCSE in state-funded schools in England to teach in two separate English-speaking well-established traditional international schools in Northern Europe where they began to teach the International Baccalaureate's Middle Years Programme (IBMYP). The…

The researchers used Gorski's continuum of five approaches to multicultural education--which extends from conservative to liberal and then critical--to analyze 40 syllabi from required or elective courses for candidates seeking licensure to teach in the middle grades (grades 4-9). While the researchers found evidence of all five approaches within…

Professional development, typically initiated by administrators to improve student achievement outcomes, is often irrelevant to the needs of early career music teachers. As music teacher educators, we were concerned about issues of importance to early career music teachers as they entered the music teaching profession. We explored conversation as…

The authors describe strategies a pre-service teacher used to orchestrate classroom discussions that encourage thinking. They show how small shifts in the questions posed can lead to substantial changes in student participation in classroom discourse.

The teaching of mathematical modeling is limited in P-12 classrooms. Little is known in regards to how to support teachers to successfully enact modeling activities. Teachers do not always appreciate the value of modeling activities in mathematics learning and often feel unprepared to implement modeling in their classrooms. Teachers often struggle…