Representing Student Voice in an Approximation of Practice: Using Planted Errors in Coached Rehearsals to Support Teacher Candidate Learning

Approximations of practice provide opportunities for teacher candidates (TCs) to engage in the work of teaching in situations of reduced complexity. A problem of practice for teacher educators relates to how to represent student voice in approximations to engage TCs with interactive practices in meaningful ways. In this article, we share an analysis of our use of “planted errors” in coached rehearsals with secondary mathematics TCs focused on the practice of responding to errors in whole-class discussion. We highlight how different iterations of the planted errors affect the authenticity of how student voice was represented in the rehearsals and the resulting opportunities for TC learning. We offer design considerations for coached rehearsals and other approximations of practice.