Abstract
This study offers an account of ways in which ritual (McCloskey, 2014) serves as a lens for identifying societal and cultural patterns related to mathematics teaching and learning in present-day US classrooms. We use data from an ethnographic study of a fifth grade mathematics classroom in which a student teacher and a mentor teacher shared responsibility for teaching a fractions unit. Using the analytic framework of ritual, we highlight the cultural nature of teaching, learning, and learning to teach mathematics. We use classroom observations and interview data to identify instances of each of the four aspects of ritual and draw on Gregg (1995) to suggest cultural patterns at work in this classroom. Our analysis and interpretation illuminate aspects of the complexity of teaching, learning, and learning to teach mathematics.
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Notes
We note here that Paige’s confusion might serve as an example of limited mathematical knowledge for teaching (Ball, Thames, & Phelps, 2008).
The KFC trick does not provide visual or conceptual insights into fraction division; it offers a mnemonic for a student who already understands fraction division.
See Alajmi (2012) for an example of an “across-space” perspective of curriculum, in this case, a comparative study of textbooks’ treatment of fractions in the USA, Japan, and Kuwait.
See Stouraitis, Potari, and Skott (2017) for a recent study regarding the role “tensions and conflicts” play in supporting teacher learning.
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McCloskey, A., Lloyd, G. & Lynch, C. Theorizing mathematics instruction using ritual: tensions in teaching fractions in a fifth grade classroom. Educ Stud Math 101, 195–213 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-017-9779-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-017-9779-y