Noticing How To Improve as a Critical Mathematics Educator

Abstract

This self-study attempts to better understand and improve my practice as a critical mathematics educator. The research study emerged from tensions between my current practices as a mathematics teacher and my beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics. I conduct this research through a self-study by integrating the discipline of noticing (Mason, 2011) through the Integrated Noticing Framework (Nolan, 2017), exploring two research questions: (1) As a high school mathematics teacher, what do I notice as I use inquiry to enact a curriculum infused with ideas from critical mathematics educational research? (2) How can I more effectively teach using inquiry methods informed by critical mathematics educational research? This self-study draws on the discipline of noticing as a theoretical construct to guide and inform data collection and analysis. In the research, I developed three research-based lessons, video recorded the lessons as I taught them, viewed and edited those video recordings into condensed (15 minute) videos and then viewed the videos during noticing sessions with critical friends. After viewing the videos during the noticing sessions, critical friends gave an account of, followed by an account for what was noticed. Through analysis of the data, I constructed three categories of themes. The first theme related to how the discipline of noticing through the Integrated Noticing Framework can provide mathematics teachers, teacher educators and researchers a unique and practical tool for professional development. The second theme related to what my critical friends and I noticed, where their interpretations allowed me to better understand events in my classroom. The third theme related to what critical friends noticed but I did not. This self-study has helped me better understand and improve my practices toward becoming a critical mathematics educator and creating situations for my students to critically reflect on the world they live in and to believe they can create change.