ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore the intentional role of the teacher within intervention spaces that have the goal of student learning at the center. We define “Small Environments” – a way of naming instructional places and teacher dispositions which embraces the idea that all learners possess a way of knowing mathematics and which works to connect pedagogy to that knowledge. We introduce three practical suggestions and tools that teachers may use in order to connect teaching to student learning: bringing forward a learner’s prior knowledge; promoting a learner’s participation, thinking, and need to change their thinking; and promoting a learner’s noticing, reflection, and connections through purposive teaching. Particularly, we focus on bringing forward a learner’s prior knowledge through the tools of interviewing and observing and we offer practical ways that teachers can enact these practices within interventions.
