Investigating practice through rehearsals: How teacher candidates respond to student contributions in whole-class discussions

Responding to student contributions during whole-class discussions is a complex instructional practice. Coached rehearsals are a way to support teacher candidate (TC) learning. This study investigates TCs’ practice of responding to student contributions during rehearsals of leading whole- class discussions. Two key findings emerged through video analysis. The rehearsing TC had general patterns of responding, with some nuanced variation when responding to a contribution that was mathematically problematic. Second, analyzing teacher responses as sets of interactions contingent on student contributions and key mathematical ideas provided greater insight into the practice of responding. These findings have important implications for research on this complex practice.