This paper investigates the transformation of new elementary teachers in their understanding of mathematics in relation to pedagogy and learning. By participating in an intentionally created community of practice, new elementary school teachers, began to connect to mathematics in new ways: reflectively, confidently, and inquisitively. Analysis focused on data from teacher reflections, observations, group meetings, and revealed communities of practice in which an increased confidence with mathematics and teaching mathematics developed. Through the course of the community of practice, the participants began to think of themselves as mathematics teachers, mainly through their ability to reflect, question, and take ownership of their practice.

In this article, the authors examine teacher identity development to understand more completely the intellectual and pedagogical demands of the profession. Drawing on interviews, observations, and reflections of two alternatively certified mathematics teachers, and contextualizing these data with surveys from 157 teachers in the same certification program cohort, the authors examine how identities evolved over the course of the teachers’ first year of teaching. These identities are explored in relation to the teachers’ knowledge of mathematics, their mathematics teaching, and their relationships to urban youth.

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