The Interrelated Mathematics Learner Identities and Mathematics Teacher Identities of Preservice Elementary Teachers

Despite consistent efforts for change in mathematics education aligned with ambitious and equitable teaching practices, many preservice teachers continue to enroll in teacher‐preparation programs having learned mathematics in traditional, teacher‐centered ways. If mathematics teacher educators are to support preservice teachers in breaking the cycle of teaching in the traditional ways that they themselves were taught, a greater understanding of how the mathematics learner identities and mathematics teacher identities of preservice teachers interrelate is needed. In this paper, we explore a conceptual distinction of between identities and within identities to better understand the interrelated nature of preservice elementary teachers' mathematics learner identities and mathematics teacher identities in the context of a problem‐solving focused mathematics content course. We collected data from 21 preservice elementary teachers who were in their first year enrolled at a university and deductively analyzed their self‐reported experiences in the problem‐solving focused mathematics content course. We share our findings of several ways that the mathematics learner identities and mathematics teacher identities interrelated in this study. Ultimately, we suggest that these findings support progress toward supporting preservice elementary teachers to take up ambitious and equitable teaching practices.