Using Toulmin’s Model to Develop Prospective Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Conceptions of Collective Argumentation

As creating and critiquing arguments becomes more of a focus in mathematics classes, teachers need to develop their abilities to facilitate collective arguments. Many mathematics education researchers find Toulmin’s (1958/2003) model of argumentation to be useful in analyzing arguments, raising the question of whether mathematics teachers would find it useful as well. We introduced the model to prospective secondary mathematics teachers and asked them to analyze arguments using it. We found that the prospective teachers developed an appropriate understanding of what collective argumentation looks like in the classroom, and the model provided them a lens for analyzing teaching practice. This suggests the use of Toulmin’s model is a promising step in helping prospective teachers develop their conceptions of collective argumentation.