Starting with what they do know: connecting new learning to prior knowledge

Описание: Asset-based pedagogy seeks to uncover strengths and competencies that students bring with them to class. Transforming our practice to include asset-based approaches means supporting students to use what they already know as a resource for learning. In this session, Dr. Marc Husband will share teaching strategies he and his colleagues use to elicit and build upon students’ prior knowledge and experience in the mathematics classroom. We will learn about these strategies by actually experiencing them for ourselves: working on a rich task, interacting with colleagues’ ideas, and making and documenting connections between what we already know and new ideas. The session will highlight practical ways to engage learners and provoke them to continue working even after they think they are done. Working with students in this way places value on what learners know and can do while at the same time developing their ability to drive their own learning and exceed their own expectations.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Dr. Marc Husband earned his Ph.D. in 2019 from York University. Marc views his research and teaching as related and reciprocal. He taught elementary mathematics for 20 + years in several roles — elementary school teacher, math coach, professional development instructor for in-service teachers, and seconded faculty instructor for pre-service teachers. Broadly, Marc’s research is situated in the field of mathematics education. More specifically, his classroom-based research investigates how teachers elicit and use student ideas as a resource for learning mathematics in a variety of contexts including: elementary school classrooms, teacher education courses, and professional learning settings. Current and recent projects include: elementary teachers’ conceptions of mental mathematics; the potential for using number talks to promote equity; eliciting and documenting students’ mental math ideas: investigating ways to make math visible and visual.