Patti Barber

PRIMARY TEACHER TRAINEES’ MATHEMATICS SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

UK government agencies have recently set in train requirements to ‘crack down’ on primary [elementary] school teacher trainees whose own knowledge of mathematics is weak. The responsibility to identify and support (or fail) them currently rests with training providers (mainly university schools of education). We describe one approach to this process, presenting some findings concerning what trainees find difficult and how their knowledge is related to their teaching competence. We flesh out these findings with a case study of a mathematically-strong trainee whose path to qualification was less than smooth.

Teacher Educators' Identities and Work in England at the Beginning of the Second Decade of the Twenty-First Century.

This article reports on a recent study of teacher educators in England which aimed to explore teacher educators’ constructions of their own identities in the academic communities within two university schools of education. Findings show that teacher educators constructed repertoires of identities for themselves, deploying these to achieve credibility and recognition or to reflect personal change, depending on the particular context and ‘audience’. Many saw their foundational identity as once-a-school teacher, but entry into the university often triggered changes and the (re)construction of identity around practice as a teacher educator and research engagement. Findings also showed a diversity of identity constructions and resistances around the idea of research engagement and having an identity as an academic. These findings are discussed in relation to the rapidly changing and contested field of teacher education at the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century.

It is quite confusing isn't it?

Research on practice informs us that finding an effective balance between mathematical instruction and mathematical construction is not an easy task when developing young children’s learning of mathematics. Framed against Presmeg’s (2014) dance between instruction with construction as a dance, this chapter examines one teacher’s practice in relation to a centrally imposed curriculum and support materials determining the mathematics curriculum (5–7 years). Drawing from a larger multiple case study of six specialist primary mathematics teachers’ conceptions of the whole class interactive phases of their mathematics lessons, this chapter presents Jane’s introduction of place value and partitioning through her exploitation of particular manipulatives and language. The aim of this chapter is to highlight a conflicting and confusing dance between national professional guidance for teachers, an individual’s interpretations of this guidance, and the creation of meaningful opportunities for young children to construct mathematical knowledge.