Research Trends in Mathematics Teacher Education

Book excerpt: Research on the preparation and continued development of mathematics teachers is becoming an increasingly important subset of mathematics education research. Such research explores the attributes, knowledge, skills and beliefs of mathematics teachers as well as methods for assessing and developing these critical aspects of teachers and influences on teaching. Research Trends in Mathematics Teacher Education focuses on three major themes in current mathematics teacher education research: mathematical knowledge for teaching, teacher beliefs and identities, and tools and techniques to support teacher learning. Through careful reports of individual research studies and cross-study syntheses of the state of research in these areas, the book provides insights into teachers’ learning processes and how these processes can be harnessed to develop effective teachers. Chapters investigate bedrock skills needed for working with primary and secondary learners (writing relevant problems, planning lessons, being attentive to student learning) and illustrate how knowledge can be accessed, assessed, and nurtured over the course of a teaching career. Commentaries provide context for current research while identifying areas deserving future study. Included among the topics: Teachers’ curricular knowledge Teachers’ personal and classroom mathematics Teachers’ learning journeys toward reasoning and sense-making Teachers’ transitions in noticing Teachers’ uses of a learning trajectory as a tool for mathematics lesson planning A unique and timely set of perspectives on the professional development of mathematics teachers at all stages of their careers, Research Trends in Mathematics Teacher Education brings clarity and practical advice to researchers as well as practitioners in this increasingly critical arena.