Using Artifacts to Engage Teachers in Equity-based Professional Development: The Journey of One Teacher

Abstract

Over the past few years the educational community has shifted its focus toward understanding and evaluating the educational experiences of students of color. In particular, there is a cadre of mathematics researchers who have begun to interrogate notions of equity and the impact of race. In the process of investigating race’s impact on equity in the mathematics classroom, many questions have surfaced, particularly in the area of teacher development. Engaging teachers in professional development (PD) that addresses the impact of race on equity in the mathematics classroom is a complicated and challenging task (see Battey, Foote, Spencer, Taylor, & Wager, 2007; Foote, Bartell, & Wager, 2007; Franke & Kazemi, 2001; Gutierrez, 2002; Kazemi & Franke, 2004; and Wager, 2008).