‘When Mamta met Nancy and Emily to do some mathematics’ – what intellectual and personal resources do primary student teachers draw on when doing and considering the teaching of mathematics?

Naik, M (2016) ‘When Mamta met Nancy and Emily to do some mathematics’ – what intellectual and personal resources do primary student teachers draw on when doing and considering the teaching of mathematics? In: BSRLM Day Conference, 27 February 2016 - 27 February 2016, Manchester, UK.

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Abstract

For a primary student teacher, developing secure content and pedagogical subject knowledge within mathematics is of paramount importance and sometimes a cause of anxiety. As a teacher educator I was keen to explore the intellectual and personal resources that students on a BA (Hons) primary initial teacher education programme draw upon, to enact their mathematical self (‘I’) and mathematical teacher identity. Two students participated and the domain of fractions was chosen due to its reputation as being difficult to learn and to teach. The study employed an interpretivist approach, fulfilling an intention to watch and observe rather than to ‘intervene’. The four dimensions of Rowland’s Knowledge Quartet were used to review key literature and as the theoretical framework to interrogate findings. The students had very different relationships with mathematics. Both had strong levels of self-concept and self-efficacy in relation to teaching mathematics, with clear strategies arising from high levels of self-regulation.