When Am I Going to Learn to Be a Mathematics Teacher? A Case Study of a Novice New York City Teaching Fellow

Abstract

In this article, the authors present a case study of a Mathematics Teaching Fellow of the New York City Teaching Fellows program. The presentation focuses on the Teaching Fellow’s family and educational background, her beliefs as a novice teacher, preparation to teach mathematics, and first-year experiences teaching middle school mathematics in a “high-needs” school in New York City. The authors contend that although the Teaching Fellow articulated reform-oriented instructional beliefs, she was unable to enact them in the classroom. This lack was due, in part, to the inadequacies in the induction support system that was promised to her. The authors situate the case study using results from a larger study of novice Mathematics Teaching Fellows and analyze the case study from a perspective that supports reform-oriented approaches to mathematics teaching.