Professional Development Experiences Designed to Develop Teachers Empathy and Engagement with Emergent Bilinguals in Mathematics

In this study, we explore the impact of professional development (PD) on teacher empathy and engagement with emergent bilingual (EB) students in mathematics classrooms. Advancing Inquiry in Middle Mathematics for Rural East Texas (AIMM) a two-year A PD project, targeting teachers in rural schools, aimed to shift teaching beliefs from directive to connected approaches and to increase content knowledge. Three activities are described in detail. During the tasks, teachers experienced the perspectives of EB students, fostering empathy and enhancing their instructional strategies. Pre-post data and monthly reflections demonstrated shifts in teaching practices, highlighting increased use of cognitively demanding tasks and improved teacher-student interactions. Teachers reported greater cultural awareness and understanding of EB students, attributing these changes to the empathetic experiences provided by the PD. Our findings highlight the necessity of incorporating empathy in PD to support diverse students’ emotional and cognitive needs, ultimately promoting inclusive and effective teaching practices. These findings suggest that empathy-focused PD can mitigate unproductive teaching beliefs and enhance the learning environment for all students.