Reflexive Expertise: Mathematics Teacher Educators' Development through Collaborative Autoethnography

This collaborative autoethnographic project explores reflexive expertise, conceptualized as the ability to move across and beyond paradigms, and the ways in which it supports mathematics teacher educators in navigating the complexities of teaching culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy to preservice teachers. In parallel with the design, implementation, and revision of culturally relevant mathematics activities, we engaged in ongoing critical self-reflection. We share data from three conversations that highlight how we reflexively shift across paradigms. In the first, we struggled to code preservice teachers’ ideas about culture. In the second, we attempted to contextualize education as a profession in the wake of the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, TX. In the third, we questioned pedagogical assumptions, particularly the illusion of safe spaces in educational settings. We faced several tensions and impasses—aporias—that resulted in paradigmatic shifts and revealed hidden biases and assumptions. We posit that reflexive expertise is another method to explore researcher positioning, particularly for researchers with privilege. Reflexive expertise has transformative potential, especially in concert with collaborative autoethnography, which we suggest as a powerful methodology for developing the expertise of fellow mathematics teacher educators.