Section archive - Preservice Teachers

This article reports on findings from an exploratory study carried out in Portugal and Sweden, concerning student teacher recruitment to Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes. It addresses issues such as the motivations and expectations of the student teachers regarding the teaching profession. The discussion comprises two themes: the frame of reference for ITE in the two countries and possible implications for the recruitment process. The findings reveal that female students seem to be attracted to the education field in both countries. What differs is how they enter the field. Another difference relates to when student teachers choose to enter a teaching degree.

This research examines the ways prospective elementary teachers (PSTs) made connections to children’s mathematical thinking and children’s community funds of knowledge in mathematics lesson plans. The authors identified three distinct levels of connections to children’s mathematical thinking and their community funds of knowledge evidenced in PSTs’ work. Findings describe how these connections reflected different points on a learning trajectory.

This study explored how the initial concerns of preservice teachers changed over the course of a 1-year secondary school teacher training program in New Zealand. It also examined those concerns as they related to teaching efficacy and experiences on practicum. The findings reveal that students develop a more differentiated set of concerns about teaching as they gain classroom experience and their concerns become more realistic with that experience. The results also indicated that teaching efficacy and teaching concerns are not identical or interchangeable but instead have a reciprocal relationship. As teaching efficacy increased, concerns about teaching decreased.

Based on findings from a semester-long study, this paper examines the development of Samoan prospective teachers’ mathematical understandings and mathematics attitudes when investigating authentic contexts and applying working mathematically processes, mental computations and problem-solving strategies to find solutions of problems. The authors were also interested in assessing the impact of using the innovative tools, mental computations and creative authentic investigations on PPTs attitudes towards mathematics. The findings reveal that both the positive and negative variations suggested that learning experiences in the FYMM course influenced general perceptions about mathematics learning and therefore, one’s actions when confronted with problems to solve.