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 relationshis 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 emhasise the an!iet" and disaointment 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 toics and con&used about the role
o& (eda#o#ical asects)$ 'his situation is also #enerated b" comle!
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 develoed durin#
their re-service teachin# education$ %n this aer, we e!amine some o&
the asects 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 asects 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 develoment olicies caused hu#el" disarate conte!ts o& &ormal
education in di&&erent arts o& Brazil$ 'his multi&aceted situation allowed
or imeded the develoment o& di&&erent e!eriences &rom the o&&icial
directions$ .n the one hand, some Brazilian cit" councils have been
develoin# interestin# curricula aroaches, which consider the (rh"thm)
o& develoment o& students rather than the constrained (time) imosed b"
academic "ear$ 'his ersective rooses a curricular or#anisation b"
cycles of learning as an attemt to avoid &racturin# school content$
Accordin# to this aroach, mathematics teachin# should haen throu#h
the develoment o& interdiscilinar" theme ro*ects involvin# a #rou o&
teachers$ .n the other hand, the realit" &or thousands o& students o&
/
mathematics education in rivate schools or in schools based in rural and
small towns is still ver" close to traditional teachin# aroaches$
'he ersectives in mathematics education, o&&icial rescritions
and the comle!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# develoed 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 comle! 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!amles 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 comle!it" o& learnin# and teachin# rocesses$
-e a#ree in seein# as inaroriate the lecturers3 attemts to
aroach 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 suort 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 attemted 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
must start in the &irst "ear o& under#raduate course$ 7owever, we
5
understand that this t"e o& direction er se does not #uarantee an
ade,uate teachin# aroach that inte#rates theoretical and ractical
asects involved in teachin# education$ -e need a stron#er and wider
rede&inition o& olicies which suort teacher education aroaches at
schools and universities$
-e also observe some ractices which have been in lace &or lon#
time which could hamer the educational re&orm$ Firstl", we must
mention the si#ni&icant di&&erence between the curricula aroaches
develoed in re-service teacher education &or rimar" and secondar"
school student teachers$ %n &act, rimar" school teachers are under the
suervision o& educational deartments or institutes, and the re-service
secondar" students are #enerall" ta+in# courses mainl" or#anised b"
mathematics deartments, which rivile#ed secialists in mathematics$ %n
these academic conte!ts, the comle! articulation between mathematics
contents, learnin# and teachin# theories, and teachin# ractice has not
been a riorit"$
8econdl", we notice that desite #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!amle, most o& rivate secondar" schools redetermine the eda#o#ical
aroach throu#h which teachers must teach mathematics$ 'hose schools
concentrate e&&orts on teachin# strate#ies which reare students to have
a #ood er&ormance on vestibular 1the ma*orit" o& Brazilian universities
and colle#es re,uire this comulsor" e!am &or rosective students
entrance2$ 'hose aroaches to teachin# #enerall" &ollow the utilisation
o& re-&abricated didactical material based on multile-choice e!ercises
similar to those that the students will &ind on the vestibular e!am$
8econdar" teachers teach lar#e #rous that can have more than hundred
o& students$ For e!amle, the assumtion that one #rou o& students is
uni,ue, and that it is unli+el" we can al" the same ran#e o& teachin#
strate#ies &or the two di&&erent #rous, would be unrealistic to new
secondar" teachers startin# their careers$ %t seems to us that the *ob
mar+et does not consider the rinciles 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
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" resond to the ,uestions we &ormulated, althou#h
we ma" e!ress our views on some o& them$ -e a#ree on the imortance
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 asects$ %n &act, we have #enerall" been
aimin# at develoin# in our students not onl" a reco#nition o& the
diversit" in our culture, but also a resect &or it and a critical attitude to
challen#e our socio-economical situation$ -e believe in this aroach;
but we &eel it is too idealistic0 we leave it &or students to resond, 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" cometin#
situations individuals will &ace later in their ro&essional lives$
'he attemt to articulate theor" and ractices, as su##ested b" the
o&&icial educational documents, sounds ositive$ 'his articulation would
be develoed 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 seci&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 comle! asects 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!amle, 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
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 comartmentalised &rom mathematical
+nowled#e content$
Final Remarks
'here is an increase in research in mathematics education$ A lar#er
number o& oortunities o& debate have been romoted b" mathematics
education societies$ %n our countr", educational olicies reresent onl"
art o& the roblem &or those who teach in re-service mathematics
teacher education courses$ .ther than a olitical suort to imlement
them, we see that educational olicies leave untouched issues which
romote an e!istin# *ob mar+et which we can not simle i#nore$
%t is imortant 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 develoed in re-
service mathematics teacher courses$ 7owever, we cannot address a
secial relevance &or this issue er se without accountin# &or other asects
related to our societ"$ B" accountin# &or our societ" we mean reco#nizin#
and resectin# di&&erent cultures and lacements, aimin# at develoin# a
critical attitude throu#h education$ For us, learnin# theories should
aroach cultural, social and olitical issues$ =e&lectin# the ractice
which school teachers must develo to resond to the new elementar"
and secondar" schools curriculum directions, we tend to thin+ that we
must not comartmentalize eda#o#ical s+ills, content +nowled#e, and
school lacements$
Acknoledgments
>anet Ainle" and Peter Pawse" &or comments in earl" versions o& this aer; C?P, 9
Conselho ?acional do @esenvolvimento CientA&ico e 'ecnolB#ico and CAPE8 -
CoordenaCDo de Aer&eiCoamento de Pessoal de ?Avel 8uerior &or suort our
research studies$
References
Brasil$ 156662$ MinistErio da EducaCDo e @esorto - 8ecretaria do Ensino
Fundamental$ Referenciais para Forma!"o de Professores% BrasAlia0 MEC48EF$
Brasil$ 1/FFG2$ MinistErio da EducaCDo e @esorto - 8ecretaria do Ensino
Fundamental$ Parametros Curriculars #acionais $ Matematica %
a
a &
a
s'ries(
BrasAlia0 MEC48EF$
H
.bs0 'his roosal is to be submitted as a aer$
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 pre-service
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%
I