Entailments of questions and questioning practices in ambitious mathematics teaching

Abstract

The work of teaching mathematics is complex and involves numerous problems and challenges for teachers to handle. Questioning is a slice of mathematics teaching that is both common and challenging. In this paper, we use the context of collective planning in a Norwegian professional development initiative as a space for investigating questions and questioning practices in ambitious mathematics teaching. Based on analysis of nine co-planning sessions, which were carried out over the course of two years, we suggest that questioning practices involve considerations of: 1) what types of questions to ask, 2) purpose of questions and questioning, and 3) timing of questioning. Based on our conceptual framework, we propose a fourth logical entailment relating to the positionality of students, and we suggest that further research is needed to explore this entailment.