RUME 26
2024
Omaha, Nebraska
Holding on to Reasoning and Proving While Navigating Professional Obligations: Secondary Teachers’ Transition From University to Schools
Page: 1410
Transitioning between university teacher preparation programs and secondary schools is a complex process, resulting in many of the ambitious teaching practices experienced in teacher preparation programs being absent, but may reemerge later. This study explores how three beginning teachers negotiate between their formal education and the realities of classroom practice, specifically concentrating on the integration of reasoning and proving into their teaching. We use Herbst and Chazan’s (2003) theory of practical rationality to conceptualize this transition. Our findings suggest that initially, the participants discourse expressed a need to adhere to school rules, curriculum, and the cooperating teacher’s traditional practice. With more experience, the teachers discussed their desire to implement more activities that require justifying, conjecturing, and exploring. Once the participants became novice teachers and gained their own classroom, their obligations shifted to the individual student. Despite the added responsibilities, the beginning teachers continued to incorporate reasoning and proof into their classrooms. These findings shed light on the process of reconciling various teacher obligations while maintaining some focus on reasoning and proof.