Teacher Learning of Ambitious and Equitable Mathematics Instruction

Drawing on sociocultural learning theory, this book offers a groundbreaking theory of secondary mathematics teacher learning in schools, focusing on the transformation of instruction as a conceptual change project to achieve ambitious and equitable mathematics teaching. Despite decades of research showing the importance of ambitious and equitable teaching, few inroads have been made in most U.S. classrooms, and teacher learning in general remains undertheorized in most educational research. Illustratingtheir theory through closely documented case studies of secondary mathematics teachers' learning and instructional practices, authors Horn and Garner explore the key conceptual issues teachers are required to work through in order to more fully realize ambitious and equitable teaching in their classrooms. By theorizing teacher learning from a sociocultural perspective and focusing on instructional practice, the authors make a unique contribution to the field of teacher learning. This book offers researchers, scholars, and teacher educators new theoretical and methodological tools for the elusive phenomenon of teacher learning, and provides instructional leaders and coaches with practical examples of how teachers shift their thinking and practice. Ilana Horn is Professor of Math Education at the Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University, USA. She is the author of Motivated: Designing Math Classrooms Where Students Want to Join In (2017) and Strength in Numbers: Collaborative Learning in Secondary Mathematics (2012). Brette Garner is Assistant Professor at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver, USA, where her research focuses on mathematics teacher learning--