Tracing pre-service teachers’ understanding of specialized content knowledge for sequencing and structuring mathematics learning in low-resource Malawi classrooms

This study is a quantitative research that examine the extent of alignment of Ethiopian teacher education program curricula with primary school mathematics contents. So, to collect the data, the study was used content analysis as instrument. The sources of data were primary school mathematics syllabi and curricula materials of college of teacher education. To do this, the study employed quantitative method to collect data from pre-service mathematics teachers. Coders were very experienced teacher educators from three different colleges of teacher education: Kotebe Metropolitan University, Hawassa college of teacher education and Arba Minch college of teacher education. Teacher educators were selected purposely based on their service year in college of teacher education and their positiveness for coding. To do the content analysis, the main documents (primary school mathematics syllabi) were coded or broken down in to manageable categories on a variety of theme and then examined using appropriate content analysis theoretical model. The result of the study portrayed that the curricula materials of generalist have low level of alignment with the primary school mathematics contents whereas those of specialist and linear curricula were align with the mathematical contents of primary school curricula in moderate level. As it was indicated in the findings of the study, the college curricula materials are not fully aligned with the contents of primary school mathematics. There are school mathematical contents which are not included in curricula of teacher education. Thus, it is recommended that appropriate program should be designed which create an opportunity for preservice mathematics teachers to access school contents either during practicum sessions or should include in the curricula materials of teacher education.

Teachers' Sense of Efficacy: An Important Factor in School Improvement

The study investigated enhancing dress code compliance among pre-service teachers in colleges of education in Benue State: leveraging digital content creation (DCC). Guided by three research questions and two hypotheses, the study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprised 1675 (1020 males and 655 females) pre-service teachers in public Colleges of Education (COE) in Benue State during the 2024/2025 academic session. Through the stratified sampling technique, a sample of 323 (198 males and 125 females) pre-service teachers participated in the study. A self-developed questionnaire was used for data collection. Using Cronbach’s alpha, the internal consistency coefficients of 0.81, 0.76 and 0.78 were obtained for clusters I, II and III, respectively, while the overall reliability of the questionnaire was 0.77. Findings revealed that pre-service teachers often comply with dress code policies in colleges of education in Benue State, with no significant gender difference in compliance. Peer influence, social media trends, cultural norms, and economic factors, among others, are the factors influencing dress code compliance among pre-service teachers in Colleges of Education in Benue State. Digital Content Creation (DCC) influences dress code compliance to a high extent among pre-service teachers in Colleges of Education in Benue State, with no significant gender difference in the influence. The study recommended, among other things, that Colleges of Education in collaboration with the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) should integrate professional dressing into the teacher education curriculum.

In contexts of adversity, there is a need to educate pre-service teachers with specialized content knowledge so they can carry out the work of teaching effectively. This article draws upon a study with three pre-service teachers in Malawi that examines the understanding they develop of the knowledge needed to carry out mathematics teaching tasks, in particular, the knowledge needed sequence instructional tasks sequence and use mathematical representations in classrooms. The research was conducted in one teacher education college where the curriculum is under development and has an emergent demand for qualifying teachers in mathematics. The research methodology was based on a questionnaire, interviews, teaching observations, and group discussions. The data were thematically analyzed through two themes reflecting the knowledge pre-service teachers considered necessary for teaching mathematics. While the first theme reveals how pre-service teachers understand this knowledge as a reference for meeting curricular standards and students’ needs, the second captures a form of understanding that attempts to go beyond conceptual knowledge. The findings can help better understand the pre-service teachers’ learning and experience during teacher education and how theoretical constructs are conceived in challenging contexts of teacher education.

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.

Pre-service teachers often express a strong desire for more practical experience in teacher education, which requires teacher educators to consider new, meaningful opportunities for field experiences. This paper aims to bridge the gap between two ‘practice worlds’ – university teacher education and school practice – based on the example of the Austrian ‘Partner School Programme’ in order to overcome the theory-practice divide. In this conceptual paper, we explore how the ‘Partner School Programme’ has aimed at bridging the two ‘practice worlds’ by enhancing collaboration between universities and schools in different ways: pre-service teachers can take part in fieldwork in schools within the framework of a project (project-based learning), a research activity (community-based research) or an organised service (service-learning). The paper shows the relevance of developing integrated approaches for encouraging pre-service teachers’ reflective practice as thorough preparation for their subsequent careers and provides teacher educators with new ideas for practical fieldwork.

The Elementary School Journal Volume 86, Number S O 1986 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0013-5984/86/8603-0002$01.00 Teachers have strong opinions about parent involvement. Some believe that they can be effective only if they obtain parental assistance on learning activities at home. Others believe that their professional status is in jeopardy if parents are involved in activities that are typically the teachers' responsibilities. The different philosophies and beliefs of teachers reflect the two main, opposing theories of school and family relations. One perspective emphasizes the inherent incompatibility, competition, and conflict between families and schools and supports the separation of the two institutions (Parsons, 1959; Waller, 1932; Weber, 1947). It assumes that school bureaucracies and family organizations are directed, respectively, by educators and parents, who can best fulfill their different goals, roles, and responsibilities independently. Thus, these distinct goals are achieved most efficiently and effectively when teachers maintain their professional, general standards and judgments about the children in their classrooms and when parents maintain their personal, particularistic standards and judgments about their children at home.

This study aimed to examine the effects of a physical education teacher education programme on (a) preservice teachers’ (PSTs') specialised content knowledge (SCK), and (b) the game-play development of their students, during a student-centred Sport Education-Step Game Approach (SE-SGA) unit. Three PSTs selected by convenience sampling (22–24 years old), their 60 eighth-grade students (three classes: 38 boys, 22 girls, Mage = 13.3), and a mentoring team (one teacher educator, one university supervisor, and one cooperating teacher) participated in the study. The PSTs participated in a two-stage programme where they learned how to teach volleyball using SE-SGA, and then implemented an SE-SGA unit during their school placement. Using audio/video data from 30 lessons, we examined PSTs' SCK (content development, depth of content knowledge) on a lesson-by-lesson basis. We also assessed the 2v2 game-play performance of PSTs’ students across three assessment points. Descriptive statistics were computed for SCK scores and repeated measures analysis of variances were used to analyse variance in game-play variables over time. Results showed improvement in PSTs’ SCK and students’ game-play. The PSTs showed strong SCK, with index levels above the 3.0 cut point, and progressive use of informing, refining, and applying-game tasks over time. Students improved in most game-play variables (namely ‘serve’, ‘reception’, ‘setting’) and the ‘game performance index’ over time. Student game-play development seemed to be strongly influenced by an interdependent interaction between PSTs’ SCK and additional situated, model-based features of content development (i.e. extensive application of knowledge in competition events, the problem-solving focus of the refining tasks).

This study arose from a desire to investigate initial teacher education for primary school mathematics teachers in Hong Kong. A conceptual framework for analyzing pre-service teachers’ mathematical knowledge and beliefs informed this qualitative investigation. The purpose of the study was to scrutinize both the cognitive and affective domains in mathematics teaching of pre-service primary teachers within the analytical framework. This paper seeks to capture three cases of Hong Kong pre-service primary teachers holding different views about mathematics teaching and learning as revealed by a beliefs survey. Their mathematical knowledge was examined along with a questionnaire, individual interviews, and an analysis of the lesson plans they provided. Through triangulation, it was found that these pre-service teachers’ beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning correspond to their pedagogical content knowledge to some extent. The results of lesson plan analysis were mostly consistent with those in the questionnaire and interviews although some of the interview data were inconsistent with the questionnaire results. Such inconsistency seemed to suggest that pre-service teachers’ reform-oriented mathematical beliefs were impacted by some traditional values such as Confucianism. Implications are discussed regarding the relationship between knowledge and beliefs in mathematics education as well as the theory of teacher competencies.

School and university partnerships are widely promoted as an effective means to support the preparation of pre-service teachers (PSTs). However, these partnerships are rarely conceived with practicing teachers working in a university context as co-teachers with university teacher educators. School-based co-teachers (SBCTs) (practicing teachers who contribute to Initial Teacher Education (ITE) by teaching alongside university-based teacher educators) contribute to ITE through their support for curriculum and assessment development, providing opportunities for observation and experiences in schools, and teaching with university teacher educators. However, the role of a SBCT requires some careful navigation and negotiation of the educational spaces that a SBCT must cross as they teach in university classrooms and foster a co-teaching relationship. This research articulates the process of boundary crossing that four SBCTs undertook as they supported the development of pre-service science teachers. Boundaries exist between the practices and perspectives of teaching school science students and teaching science PSTs at university. Data were collected from four SBCTs across one academic year, including an initial survey at the beginning of the year, an interview at the end of the year, and documentation from co-teaching meetings across the year. An inductive thematic approach was taken to analyze the data. Five themes were identified that describe the ways SBCTs viewed their role as a co-teacher and their associated learning in this role. Drawing on literature around boundary-crossing dialogical learning mechanisms, the themes are described with illustrative excerpts to represent the range of SBCTs experiences. Our data indicates that SBCTs found many opportunities to share their wealth of knowledge and experience with pre-service science teachers but also identified, and often sought out, opportunities to professionally learn and grow. Findings include the importance of sharing aims and purposes to understand the context and the generation of shared knowledge through peer reflection on teaching. This article offers insights to others who are looking to form and sustain productive relationships with SBCTs to support learning for PSTs in ITE courses.

Teachers’ mathematics knowledge has been known to have a significant impact on instructional practices. This paper discusses research on teachers’ mathematics knowledge. The paper has been summarised in five main areas: (a) the role of subject matter knowledge in teaching and learning, (b) teachers’ beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning, (c) beliefs and beliefs-in-practice: inconsistencies, (d) teacher education and its impact on instructional practices, and (e) future research on teachers’ mathematics knowledge. The review indicated that teachers are critical factors in the learning of mathematics and the extents of their content and pedagogical knowledge do determine students’ achievement. Also, the paper acceded to the view that, a teacher’s memories from the school years is a central influencing factor that affects its mathematics related beliefs, hence there is a need to enhance pre-service teachers’ positive attitude towards mathematics during training. The paper suggested further areas of research should look at: different theoretically-and empirically distinction in content knowledge for teaching and investigate their relationship, separately and in combination, to student achievement; whether mathematics teachers’ knowledge affects their lesson planning strategies and whether the provision of ‘mathematical knowledge for teaching’ by teacher training institutions improve pre-service teachers’ beliefs about mathematics and mathematics teaching. The paper concluded that, mathematics teacher education programme should provide pre-service teachers with awareness of conception of mathematics which may influence their teaching.

As with many mathematics teacher educators, I purposefully set about challenging the curriculum and pedagogical status-quo; I wanted my Bachelor of Education pre-service teachers (PSTs) to experience learning and teaching mathematics in a connected and powerful way. I initiated was Roundtable Reflective Inquiry (RRI) sessions as one key practice that enabled PSTs to reflect on their mathematics teaching experience in an ongoing, structured manner. PSTs generated discussions based on critical events and interactions, and my aim was for PSTs to learn through their own experience rather than mine. My role was to facilitate, synthesise and challenge (often) firmly held assumptions. However, as this chapter will reveal, an often unexpected outcome of pre-service teacher education is teacher educator enrichment, knowledge and transformation. While my intention, and indeed the initial focus of my self-study was to enhance PST learning and teaching in mathematics, it soon became evident that I was learning as a teacher educator and my new approach was contributing to my own pedagogical development as a teacher educator. Learning in mathematics teacher education is about coming to know and self-study enabled me as teacher educator researcher to notice, to challenge my assumptions and to name new knowledge.

The article describes and analyses theoretical and empirical materials about the pupils’ emotions in the process of teaching/learning mathematics in a primary school. The aim of the article is to investigate the experienced emotions by pupils when learning mathematics in a primary school and highlight the factors arousing emotions in learning mathematics in primary school. The article analyses the data obtained in empirical research on the emotions experienced by pupils during mathematics lessons in primary school. In questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, pupils reveal what gave them positive emotions in mathematics lessons, as well as what made them experience negative emotions. Based on the analysis of empirical data, we highlighted the factors of learning mathematics in primary school that caused positive emotions; however, the failure to comply with these factors caused negative factors in pupils. As a result of the research, it is possible to select the factors facilitating positive emotions while teaching mathematics in primary school.

Enlightenment of teacher education patterns in foreign countries on Chinese teacher education reform

Teaching styles that satisfy students’ needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness have been found to influence various types of learning outcomes in school and college contexts. However, little is known about how these teaching styles are associated with pre-service teachers’ learning motivation and academic engagement. This study examined the relationship between pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their teacher educators’ teaching styles (i.e. instructional clarity, support and feedback, autonomy support, and support for cooperative learning) and their learning motivation and academic engagement. Data were collected from 601 first-year pre-service secondary teachers randomly selected from regional teacher training centres in Cambodia. Structural equation analyses revealed that perceptions of teacher educators’ teaching styles have significant associations with pre-service teachers’ intrinsic motivation and academic engagement. This study provides more scientific evidence concerning determinants of pre-service teachers’ learning motivation and academic engagement. In addition, practical implication is recommended for teacher educators.