Elementary teacher candidates' connections between mathematics and literacy and the contextual factors that encourage connection-making

Elementary teacher candidates (TCs) must learn to teach many subject areas. Although some mathematics education researchers have framed elementary teachers' knowledge as a deficit (i.e., lack of depth of mathematics knowledge), this dissertation considers elementary teachers' broad knowledge as a strength. Many elementary teachers and TCs feel anxious about teaching mathematics, but more confident in teaching other subjects, such as literacy. By identifying similarities between the teaching and learning of two subjects, they can draw on their knowledge of teaching other subjects to teach mathematics in a conceptually oriented, inquiry-based way. This case study of a cohort of elementary TCs taking concurrent mathematics and literacy methods courses sought to learn more about their connection-making by asking two questions: (a) What connections between subject areas, if any, do elementary TCs enrolled in concurrent literacy and mathematics methods courses identify? and (b) How do the contexts in which they are learning to teach encourage or limit the opportunities to make connections across subject areas?To answer the first question, I developed a conceptual framework of types of connections between mathematics and literacy, based on the research literature. This framework includes integrated curriculum, language as a basis for learning, and similarities in teaching and learning. I generated data through participant observations of class sessions and focus group discussions and analyzed the types of connections the TCs made using my framework. They identified a variety of connections between mathematics and literacy, with the two most frequent categories being about the role of reading in learning mathematics and similarities in pedagogy. To analyze the conditions which supported their connection making, I conceptualized the two methods courses as separate, but overlapping, communities of practice, and the focus group discussions as boundary encounters between them (Wenger, 1998). The focus groups, as boundary encounters, enabled TCs to identify a larger number of boundary objects (i.e., connections), as well as make richer connections. This took place through two types of knowledge brokering: brainstorming to identify boundary objects, and collaborative brokering, in which multiple participants contributed knowledge from other courses or experiences to collectively make sense of similarities or differences across the two subjects. In addition, my participation in collaborative brokering during the second focus group discussion suggests that TCs need the support of a more experienced knowledge broker to support their connection-making in order to go beyond surface-level similarities. These findings suggest that, in order to make connections that would enhance their mathematics teaching, elementary TCs need intentionally created spaces and the support of an instructor who is familiar with the teaching and learning of more than one subject area. This has implications for the structure of elementary teacher preparation programs, as well as the background and/or professional development of mathematics teacher educators who work with elementary TCs.