Introducing the role of being an advocate in mathematics teacher education

Abstract

Mathematics teacher education is often described in terms of the mathematical content and pedagogy that teachers need. However, recent calls for equity in mathematics education demand a broadening of this view. In this article, we articulate a theoretical description of what the role of being an advocate in language-diverse classrooms could involve and some of the practical challenges that mathematics teacher educators may have when introducing it, using empirical examples from our teacher education courses for teachers of Grades 1–7 in Norway. In the theoretical description of the role of being an advocate into mathematics teacher education, we distinguish between in-class advocacy and advocacy beyond the classroom and what these different kinds of advocacy might entail in language-diverse classrooms. The practical issues that we identified in raising different aspects of the role indicate the need for further research into how to raise preservice teachers’ awareness about the role of being an advocate, in and outside of the classroom, in different cultural settings and how this knowledge could be used in teacher education to challenge preservice teachers’ language ideologies and raise non-trivial issues.