Re-storying practice: Using stories about students to advance mathematics education reform

We apply a literary definition of story (struggle, protagonist, and resolution) to an American primary school teacher's reflections on experimenting with new teaching practices. This definition makes issues of equity explicit and revealed what the teacher saw as possible for changing her practice. By re-storying her stories – offering evidence from interviews, video, and surveys to affirm or complicate interpretations – we consider the power of storytelling to deepen commitments to reform and challenge skepticism. When done collaboratively between teacher educators and teachers, restorying could be a generative analytic process of learning from practice.

► Case study of U.S. math teacher experimenting with new practices to promote equity. ► Applying literary definition of story to teacher reflections makes equity explicit. ► Teacher stories are reflective & prospective, revealing views on what is possible. ► Stories of individual students can govern evaluation of new practices for all. ► Re-storying involves collaborative analyses with teacher educators and teachers.