Mathematics teacher education programs: practice and research

Abstract

Mathematics teacher education involves a wide variety of processes and issues. Usually, the main focus of attention in this field of research is mathematics teachers themselves— especially their knowledge, conceptions, beliefs, attitudes, competences, practices, and identity. Much attention has been put on the processes by which individual teachers or teachers in communities learn or acquire new knowledge, develop or change their practice or identity, and show new attitudes or competencies. However, mathematics teacher education, besides being a field of research, is also a field of practice. Many institutions across the world—universities, teacher colleges, normal schools and other public and private organizations—have programs that prepare prospective teachers who will teach mathematics in one school level or another. Often, these institutions also have interventions aimed at practicing teachers. Besides, the range of institutions and programs providing professional development opportunities for practicing teachers is even more diverse and the landscape is quickly changing with the increasing offer of e-learning distance education courses. Therefore, it is important to consider how mathematics teacher education programs are working, both for prospective and practicing teachers, how their quality is assured, what problems they face, and how they are changing to meet new societal demands. In a review of literature about prospective teacher education, Ponte and Chapman (2008) suggest that the aspects of teacher education programs to take into account include (1) program instructors and other participants such as ‘‘mentors and students involved in the prospective teachers’ field experiences’’ (p. 226) and (2) program elements such as