S<sup>3</sup>D Approach: Incremental Professional Development for Fostering Small-Group Discourse

The value of discourse in the mathematics classroom is evident across standards, policy documents, and research. The quality of discourse is associated with students’ mathematical understanding and achievement. Productive mathematical discourse includes students providing explanations and critically...

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Main Author: Sarah Quebec Fuentes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Education Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/1/36
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author Sarah Quebec Fuentes
author_facet Sarah Quebec Fuentes
author_sort Sarah Quebec Fuentes
collection DOAJ
description The value of discourse in the mathematics classroom is evident across standards, policy documents, and research. The quality of discourse is associated with students’ mathematical understanding and achievement. Productive mathematical discourse includes students providing explanations and critically listening to and evaluating the ideas of others. Such high-level discourse takes time to develop and is impacted by how teachers structure lessons and interact with students (e.g., talk moves). The present case study reports on an incremental professional development, S<sup>3</sup>D Approach, that guides teachers through a two-phase process to enhance small-group, student-to-student discourse. One middle school mathematics teacher implemented the incremental stages of the S<sup>3</sup>D Approach with support from a mathematics teacher educator, who conducted weekly observations and debrief meetings. Qualitative analyses revealed that, despite initial challenges, the S<sup>3</sup>D Approach became integrated into the teacher’s practice, enabling the teacher to identify and build upon incremental improvements in the small-group discourse. Overall, the findings demonstrate how through a reframing of starting points and the definition of success, incremental PD supports sustainable changes in a teacher’s practice and student engagement in productive mathematical discourse.
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spelling doaj-art-966b18687af8470294c07ec07a5aafb62025-01-24T13:30:15ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022024-12-011513610.3390/educsci15010036S<sup>3</sup>D Approach: Incremental Professional Development for Fostering Small-Group DiscourseSarah Quebec Fuentes0College of Education, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX 76109, USAThe value of discourse in the mathematics classroom is evident across standards, policy documents, and research. The quality of discourse is associated with students’ mathematical understanding and achievement. Productive mathematical discourse includes students providing explanations and critically listening to and evaluating the ideas of others. Such high-level discourse takes time to develop and is impacted by how teachers structure lessons and interact with students (e.g., talk moves). The present case study reports on an incremental professional development, S<sup>3</sup>D Approach, that guides teachers through a two-phase process to enhance small-group, student-to-student discourse. One middle school mathematics teacher implemented the incremental stages of the S<sup>3</sup>D Approach with support from a mathematics teacher educator, who conducted weekly observations and debrief meetings. Qualitative analyses revealed that, despite initial challenges, the S<sup>3</sup>D Approach became integrated into the teacher’s practice, enabling the teacher to identify and build upon incremental improvements in the small-group discourse. Overall, the findings demonstrate how through a reframing of starting points and the definition of success, incremental PD supports sustainable changes in a teacher’s practice and student engagement in productive mathematical discourse.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/1/36mathematical discoursesmall groupstalk movesincremental professional development
spellingShingle Sarah Quebec Fuentes
S<sup>3</sup>D Approach: Incremental Professional Development for Fostering Small-Group Discourse
Education Sciences
mathematical discourse
small groups
talk moves
incremental professional development
title S<sup>3</sup>D Approach: Incremental Professional Development for Fostering Small-Group Discourse
title_full S<sup>3</sup>D Approach: Incremental Professional Development for Fostering Small-Group Discourse
title_fullStr S<sup>3</sup>D Approach: Incremental Professional Development for Fostering Small-Group Discourse
title_full_unstemmed S<sup>3</sup>D Approach: Incremental Professional Development for Fostering Small-Group Discourse
title_short S<sup>3</sup>D Approach: Incremental Professional Development for Fostering Small-Group Discourse
title_sort s sup 3 sup d approach incremental professional development for fostering small group discourse
topic mathematical discourse
small groups
talk moves
incremental professional development
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/1/36
work_keys_str_mv AT sarahquebecfuentes ssup3supdapproachincrementalprofessionaldevelopmentforfosteringsmallgroupdiscourse