This paper is from Session 2G: Linking research and practice in teaching and learning statistics at the school level

which comes under Topic 2: Statistics education at school level

Developing statistics teachers’ identity: a look at communities of practice

Presenter

• Difariney González (University of Antioquia, Colombia)

Co-author

• Lucía Zapata-Cardona (University of Antioquia, Colombia)

Abstract

In this work we studied the development of statistics teachers’ identity. The study took place within a teacher education program with weekly meetings. The program promoted the development of statistics teaching materials at the school level and reflection on several tensions that emerged during teachers’ practice in the classroom. Statistics teachers together with researchers participated as members of a community of practice that was characterized by their mutual commitment to the group. Data was collected from multiple sources: classroom observations, interactions within the meetings with teachers, autobiographies and interviews. We focused on the episodes that revealed pieces of teachers’ identity, those episodes that exposed teachers’ experience, background, and life story that helps us to understand how statistics teachers learn.