Evoking School Mathematical Knowledge among Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers through Error Analysis

Abstract

This article explores how attention to Specialised Content Knowledge (SCK) could evoke the development of school mathematics concepts among pre-service mathematics teachers (PSMTs). At the heart of the repeated debate about the delivery of professional mathematics teacher education curricula has been the reported lack of development of PSMTs knowledge for teaching. However, discussion of what mathematical knowledge for teaching is needed by PSMTs and how it should be developed had been uneven. In South Africa, attention to improving the status quo of learners’ poor performances in mathematics has been directed toward improving in-service teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching. However, research has shown that the problem does not only emerge when teachers become practitioners. The problem of low levels performance and of understanding of school mathematics by pre-service teachers has been identified by many studies but is often not addressed during teacher training. This article explores an under-examined strategy for addressing the repeated concerns about the quality of pre-service mathematics teachers’ education. It examines how attention to specialised content knowledge (SCK) within a preservice teacher education curriculum could potentially influence deeper quality mathematical knowledge to pre-service mathematics teachers’ professionality. This is a qualitative study conducted in 2018 and 2019. Data was generated from (n=61) PSMTs that were enrolled for Bachelor of Education majoring in mathematics. Data was conducted using written task, open ended questionnaires and focus group interviews. The findings from this small-scale study showed that error analysis has the potential to influence the development of SMK. Furthermore, findings suggest that attention to SCK has the potential to evoke school mathematics concepts and the evolution of subject matter knowledge. Based on the findings it is recommended that future research should be conducted to determine the veracity of these conclusions and their generalization to other mathematical topics. Considering the suggestions made by in literature that the description of knowledge is only valid at the time of the investigation, there is a need of large scale to ascertain the effect of error analysis toward the development of PSMTs' SMK of other school mathematics topics. Keywords: Error analysis, Pre-service mathematics teachers, Specialised Content Knowledge.