Abstract:

In recent decades, efforts have intensified to encourage teachers to shift their teaching practices to dialogic discourse. This type of discourse is also called “Accountable Talk.” In math classrooms, accountable mathematics talk (AMT) describes classroom discourse that is committed to promoting mathematics knowledge and reasoning, as well as fostering a learning community. It involves students thinking aloud about complex problems, with teachers guiding the discussion to build, challenge, and clarify ideas, thereby promoting collaborative reasoning and engaging all students.

This study examined beliefs and self-efficacy regarding AMT among 65 elementary school mathematics coordinators, focusing on teachers’
(a) beliefs of the importance of accountable math talk;
(b) self-efficacy for promoting it; and
(c) the relationship between them.

Math coordinators are math teachers who lead pedagogical change and mentor teaching staff.
Two questionnaires were designed for this study. The first questionnaire examined teachers’ beliefs of the importance of AMT; the second assessed two dimensions of teachers’ self-efficacy for implementing AMT: ability to facilitate AMT and ability to evaluate the quality of AMT. Questionnaire statements were rated on a four-point Likert scale. Content validity was established through expert review by two mathematics education researchers and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) conducted separately for the Beliefs and Self-Efficacy questionnaires.

Findings indicated:
(a) high beliefs regarding the importance of accountable mathematical discourse (M = 3.69, SD = 0.34);
(b) relatively high levels of teachers’ self-efficacy for facilitating accountable mathematical discourse (M = 3.14, SD = 0.50) and for evaluating accountable mathematical discourse (M = 3.16, SD = 0.53);
(c) additionally, positive and significant correlation between coordinators’ beliefs in the importance of AMT in classrooms and their self-efficacy for implementing it (r = .31, p = .016). Coordinators’ beliefs were somewhat higher than their self-efficacy for implementing AMT.

This difference suggests a potential gap between strong beliefs about the importance of AMT and feeling capable of facilitating it in practice. Given coordinators’ role in leading instructional change and mentoring teachers, these findings highlight the importance of strengthening their confidence and providing tools to facilitate AMT.

Keywords:

Accountable Math Talk, Mathematical Discourse, Teachers’ Self-Efficacy, Teachers’ Beliefs.