Describing preservice secondary mathematics teachers’ critical statistical literacy habits of mind enactment

Abstract Globally, school standards documents increasingly emphasize statistical literacy from the consumer orientation (making sense of real-world data representations). This orientation requires the adoption of a Critical lens (e.g., focus on power and equity) because how statistics are used (e.g., decision making) cannot be separated from the fact that social issues operate within systems of marginalization, privilege, and power. This study aims to explore how preservice secondary mathematics teachers enact critical statistical literacy habits of mind (CSLHM) when presented with data representations from the media. Findings reveal that preservice mathematics teachers typically emergently enact CSLHM, and some robustly. There is no evidence from this study, that the preservice secondary mathematics teachers enact CSLHM habitually (no PSTs enacted all six CSLHM across each post), but are capable of enacting them independently. The findings suggest that preservice secondary mathematics teachers need support and opportunities to robustly enact CSLHM. As K-12 standards emphasize statistical literacy from the consumer orientation, the intentional cultivation of CSLHM for future teachers is essential.