Challenges facing the teaching of mathematics student teachers

Carlos Eduardo Ferreira Monteiro

Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - Brazil

Mrcia Maria Fusaro Pinto

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - Brazil

Introduction As lecturers in teacher education at Brazilian universities, we have observed several issues associated with the relationshi s between the theories which we are e! ected to teach to student mathematics teachers, the theories which are actuall" tau#ht to them, and their teachin# ractice$ %n articular, we em hasise the an!iet" and disa ointment which rimar" and secondar" mathematics student teachers e! erience when the" &inish their under#raduate course$ 'his situation is essentiall" #enerated b" e! ectations about the re-service education course which were not achieved$ For instance, man" &eel insecure about their er&ormance in teachin# mathematical to ics and con&used about the role o& ( eda#o#ical as ects)$ 'his situation is also #enerated b" com le! issues such as adverse social and economic conte!ts, demands &rom the *ob mar+et, and #overnmental olicies$ 'his ran#e o& issues re,uires attitudes &rom mathematics teachers which were not develo ed durin# their re-service teachin# education$ %n this a er, we e!amine some o& the as ects associated with these issues &or mathematics teachers at the be#innin# o& their careers$ -e do not retend to be e!haustive, and certainl" we will not cover all as ects involved$ %n the ne!t two sections, we will &ocus our discussion in the conte!t o& the current Brazilian educational s"stem$ 'he discussion which &ollows in the third section is based on re&lections o& our own ractice in mathematics teacher education, which is chan#in# due to current research in mathematics education and the new educational olicies$ Mathematics teaching practice in challenging contexts 'he Brazilian continental dimension associated with revious une,ual re#ional develo ment olicies caused hu#el" dis arate conte!ts o& &ormal education in di&&erent arts o& Brazil$ 'his multi&aceted situation allowed or im eded the develo ment o& di&&erent e! eriences &rom the o&&icial directions$ .n the one hand, some Brazilian cit" councils have been develo in# interestin# curricula a roaches, which consider the (rh"thm) o& develo ment o& students rather than the constrained (time) im osed b" academic "ear$ 'his ers ective ro oses a curricular or#anisation b" cycles of learning as an attem t to avoid &racturin# school content$ Accordin# to this a roach, mathematics teachin# should ha en throu#h the develo ment o& interdisci linar" theme ro*ects involvin# a #rou o& teachers$ .n the other hand, the realit" &or thousands o& students o&
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mathematics education in rivate schools or in schools based in rural and small towns is still ver" close to traditional teachin# a roaches$ 'he ers ectives in mathematics education, o&&icial rescri tions and the com le!it" o& social conte!t, challen#e new mathematics teachers and those who teach them$ %n articular, it seems that there is a si#ni&icant #a between the education about teachin# develo ed in universities and colle#es and the multi&aceted (real world) in which mathematics teachin# ractice is inserted$ %n such challen#in# conte!ts, we &ound ourselves *oinin# our students and &re,uentl" as+in# several ,uestions about the role theories mi#ht have in this com le! conte!t o& chan#e, such as0 Which teaching and learning theories would be suitable to support the entire range of requirements defined by national curriculum policies in teaching specific mathematical topics? Are there theories that can be effectively used in the diverse contexts in which learning and teaching mathematical processes happen? Pre-service student teachers are &re,uentl" see+in# &or ractical answers, e!am les and strate#ies which the" can er&orm as a teacher$ %n other words, the" commonl" believe that it is ossible to learn all eda#o#ical s+ills durin# an under#raduate course$ 'here would be a con&lict 1and in realit" there is2 when one later realises that there is no such ossibilit", in an" educational &ield - to have strai#ht&orward and eas" answers to the com le!it" o& learnin# and teachin# rocesses$ -e a#ree in seein# as ina ro riate the lecturers3 attem ts to a roach students3 e! ectations b" (answerin#) or (showin#) how the" can carr" out their teachin# ractices$ .n the other hand, a resentation o& theoretical models without elements which mi#ht su ort an articulation o& theor"- ractice is not an e&&ective learnin# e! erience &or student teachers$ 'his would rein&orce the dichotom" between theor" and ractice, leavin# to students the tas+ o& buildin# u their own eda#o#ical s+ills b" uttin# to#ether the &ra#mented ieces o& +nowled#e we resented to them$ 'his does not seem coherent with the #oals o& teachin#4 learnin# as resented b" new educational olicies0 we would be as+in# students to develo a di&&erent teachin# attitude at school &rom our own ractices as their lecturers, and there&ore &rom their own e! eriences as students$ 'his issue leads us to as+0 How might we approach the theories in pre-service teaching education anticipating the multiple contexts in which they are going to teach? Is such an approach possible? 'he Brazilian #overnment attem ted to remed" the situation which causes the #a between theor" and ractice in teacher education, ublishin# a controversial document 1Brasil, 56662 which rescribes several actions &or re-service courses$ Amon#st other recommendations, this document advises that the student teachers3 classroom lacements
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must start in the &irst "ear o& under#raduate course$ 7owever, we understand that this t" e o& direction er se does not #uarantee an ade,uate teachin# a roach that inte#rates theoretical and ractical as ects involved in teachin# education$ -e need a stron#er and wider rede&inition o& olicies which su ort teacher education a roaches at schools and universities$ -e also observe some ractices which have been in lace &or lon# time which could ham er the educational re&orm$ Firstl", we must mention the si#ni&icant di&&erence between the curricula a roaches develo ed in re-service teacher education &or rimar" and secondar" school student teachers$ %n &act, rimar" school teachers are under the su ervision o& educational de artments or institutes, and the re-service secondar" students are #enerall" ta+in# courses mainl" or#anised b" mathematics de artments, which rivile#ed s ecialists in mathematics$ %n these academic conte!ts, the com le! articulation between mathematics contents, learnin# and teachin# theories, and teachin# ractice has not been a riorit"$ 8econdl", we notice that des ite #overnment initiatives, educational olicies as a whole mi#ht have accentuated a #a between ublic education and the rivate schools$ %n &act, directions leave nearl" untouched, the &ar end o& elementar" educational li&e 9 the e!ams to #et a ass to our own universities 9 and other &actors which certainl" cannot be directl" controlled, such as the educational *ob mar+et$ %n Brazil, &or e!am le, most o& rivate secondar" schools redetermine the eda#o#ical a roach throu#h which teachers must teach mathematics$ 'hose schools concentrate e&&orts on teachin# strate#ies which re are students to have a #ood er&ormance on vestibular 1the ma*orit" o& Brazilian universities and colle#es re,uire this com ulsor" e!am &or ros ective students entrance2$ 'hose a roaches to teachin# #enerall" &ollow the utilisation o& re-&abricated didactical material based on multi le-choice e!ercises similar to those that the students will &ind on the vestibular e!am$ 8econdar" teachers teach lar#e #rou s that can have more than hundred o& students$ For e!am le, the assum tion that one #rou o& students is uni,ue, and that it is unli+el" we can a l" the same ran#e o& teachin# strate#ies &or the two di&&erent #rou s, would be unrealistic to new secondar" teachers startin# their careers$ %t seems to us that the *ob mar+et does not consider the rinci les studied at universities, su##ested b" #overnmental documents, and discussed b" mathematics teachers associations$ 'hese elements add new tensions related to di&&erent broad realities which the student teacher will be dealin# with in the &uture, and rovo+e us to as+0 What does it really mean for teacher education to prepare students for the real world wor! situations in which they will teach? How can pre-service teacher education account for the actual "ob
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mar!et demands? What would it mean to develop a critical attitude in the face of such socio-economical situation? Challenges faced by Pre-service mathematics teacher education courses -e are not able to &ull" res ond to the ,uestions we &ormulated, althou#h we ma" e! ress our views on some o& them$ -e a#ree on the im ortance o& theories o& learnin# &or those who will teach, at an" level$ -e also a#ree that i& theories o& learnin# are to be tau#ht in a re-service teacher education course in a conte!t such as the one in our countr", the" should account &or its cultural and social as ects$ %n &act, we have #enerall" been aimin# at develo in# in our students not onl" a reco#nition o& the diversit" in our culture, but also a res ect &or it and a critical attitude to challen#e our socio-economical situation$ -e believe in this a roach; but we &eel it is too idealistic0 we leave it &or students to res ond, durin# their own ractice as teachers, to non-trivial issues such as how to actuall" deal with diversit" without loosin# si#ht o& the man" com etin# situations individuals will &ace later in their ro&essional lives$ 'he attem t to articulate theor" and ractices, as su##ested b" the o&&icial educational documents, sounds ositive$ 'his articulation would be develo ed while ractice as teachers ta+es lace, which means, in art, inside a lacement classroom$ %t is durin# the ractice and &rom the ractice that student teachers can learn how to deal with theoretical and ractical elements$ 'a+in# into account the diversit" o& classroom settin#s, we underline each classroom as a s eci&ic or articular lacement$ From this observation we re&ormulate our revious ,uestion as0 How can we develop a mathematics teacher education in which the complex articulation between learning and teaching theories# and teacher$s practice in placements would be reached? %t seems that at colle#es and universities around the countr", there is not a consensus amon# lectures 1mathematicians and mathematics educators2 on how to reduce or to eliminate the #a between theor" and ractice$ Amon# other com le! as ects involved in this issue, we need to consider that the (universe) o& ractices in which mathematicians 1researchers and lectures2 wor+ is di&&erent &rom the mathematics teachers$ For e!am le, on the one hand, when research mathematicians ma+e con*ectures and h" otheses about the nature and construction o& the mathematical roo&, the" are based on articular e! eriences o& mathematicians3 ractices rather than those o& student teacher or school students learnin# mathematics$ .n the other hand, it is not clear to us how student teachers mi#ht develo abilities to achieve school mathematics curriculum #oals, without e! eriencin# themselves ractices close to those o& mathematicians$ %n an" case, in articular in the Brazilian mathematics curriculum, we &ear becomin# overwhelmed b" two distinct
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mathematical e! eriences 9 the one which ma" ta+e lace amal#amated with other sciences ractices and the one mirrorin# the mathematician3s ractice$ Particularl", we are also concerned whether the discussion o& ( eda#o#ical s+ills) should be com artmentalised &rom mathematical +nowled#e content$ Final Remarks 'here is an increase in research in mathematics education$ A lar#er number o& o ortunities o& debate have been romoted b" mathematics education societies$ %n our countr", educational olicies re resent onl" art o& the roblem &or those who teach in re-service mathematics teacher education courses$ .ther than a olitical su ort to im lement them, we see that educational olicies leave untouched issues which romote an e!istin# *ob mar+et which we can not sim le i#nore$ %t is im ortant to reco#nise that the teachin# o& theories in mathematics education la"s a crucial role in teachin# 4learnin# at school$ %n &act, man" individuals are e!cluded &rom our schools and re&lection on teachin# ractices should be seriousl" considered and develo ed in reservice mathematics teacher courses$ 7owever, we cannot address a s ecial relevance &or this issue er se without accountin# &or other as ects related to our societ"$ B" accountin# &or our societ" we mean reco#nizin# and res ectin# di&&erent cultures and lacements, aimin# at develo in# a critical attitude throu#h education$ For us, learnin# theories should a roach cultural, social and olitical issues$ =e&lectin# the ractice which school teachers must develo to res ond to the new elementar" and secondar" schools curriculum directions, we tend to thin+ that we must not com artmentalize eda#o#ical s+ills, content +nowled#e, and school lacements$ Ackno ledgments
>anet Ainle" and Peter Pawse" &or comments in earl" versions o& this a er; C?P, 9 Conselho ?acional do @esenvolvimento CientA&ico e 'ecnolB#ico and CAPE8 CoordenaCDo de A er&eiCoamento de Pessoal de ?Avel 8u erior &or su ort our research studies$ References Brasil$ 156662$ MinistErio da EducaCDo e @es orto - 8ecretaria do Ensino Fundamental$ Referenciais para Forma!"o de Professores% BrasAlia0 MEC48EF$ Brasil$ 1/FFG2$ MinistErio da EducaCDo e @es orto - 8ecretaria do Ensino Fundamental$ Parametros Curriculars #acionais $ Matematica %a a &a s'ries( BrasAlia0 MEC48EF$

.bs0 'his ro osal is to be submitted as a a er$

Challenges facing the teaching of mathematics student teachers

Carlos Eduardo Ferreira Monteiro
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - Brazil

Mrcia Maria Fusaro Pinto

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - Brazil

Abstract &his paper discusses issues which arise from our experience teaching student mathematics teachers in current demanding situations% We as! several questions which provo!e a discussion about the role played by theories# policies and socio-economical contexts in relation to preservice mathematics teacher education% We also express our views on some elements which add tensions related to the different broad realities which the student teacher will be dealing with in the future% 'ocusing our discussion in the context of (ra)ilian educational system# we reflect on a gap between the education about teaching developed in universities and colleges and the multifaceted real world in which mathematics teaching practice is inserted% In addition# we observe that despite government initiatives# our educational policies leave untouched issues which promote an existing "ob mar!et we can not simple ignore% *et the universe of practices in which mathematicians +researchers and lectures, wor! is different from the mathematics teachers# ma!ing unclear for us how to achieve school mathematics curriculum goals% -eflecting the practice which school teachers must develop to respond to the new elementary and secondary school curriculum directions# we tend to thin! that we must not compartmentali)e pedagogical s!ills# content !nowledge# and school placements%