Jan A. Yow: Article Analysis

Prospective teacher beliefs about liberative and oppressive mathematics teaching practices: a first step toward equitable instruction by Jan A. Yow is a journal article centered on a discussion of oppressive and liberative teaching practices. Oppressive practices being “…teaching focused on memorization and mechanical learning because…students are incapable of deep understanding.” Liberative practices are defined as “..students are expected to think deeply [about the subject]…and instruction is sensitive to diverse cultures and languages.” Yow’s research consists of having preservice teachers perform a series of reflections in which they determine if a given scenario reflects an oppressive or liberative form of instruction. They are also asked
The study took a look at the resistance of white teachers to modify the curriculum to reach Latino students in impoverished school settings. The study requires elements of dialogic conversation, authentic activity, and metacognition. Dialogic conversation is the requirement that teachers gain a grasp on how their verbal interactions, or lack there of, impact the learning experience. Authentic activity is the act of making sure that learning “…is meaningful long after the ‘event’ of learning ends.” John Dewey, a well-known believer in experiential/progressive education is mentioned as support for this thinking. Metacognition; self-reflection requires the teacher think about all aspects of the teaching and learning process to enhance the experience for the teacher and the student. Since the author has used the sociotransformative constructivism study as her theoretical basis it is evident that she values the idea that teachers are responsible for creating meaningful learning experiences for all students. Yow also includes hidden curriculum as a connection to literature piece in her study. The hidden curriculum includes non-content related materials that teachers are unofficially responsible for teaching. As previously stated the learner-centered ideology values education fostering the intellect as well as emotional, physical, and social development of the student. An ending note, of Yow’s support of the learner-centered approach are statements made in her discussion section of the study. She states that “…liberative practices that allow equal access to all content domains is imperative.” She continues, to summarize, to describe that practicing teachers have to bebeing prepared to reflect on their lessons and teaching practices to discern which methods are most effective and best for their learners to be