Pre-service primary teachers have a say on genericism in mathematics curriculum preparation
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Pre-service primary teachers have a say on genericism in mathematics curriculum preparation Stephen Norton 1
&
Jeanne Allen 1
Received: 17 November 2019 / Revised: 4 May 2020 / Accepted: 18 May 2020 # Australian Curriculum Studies Association 2020
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to document pre-service primary school teachers’ responses to manifestations of genericism in mathematics teacher preparation. Specifically, it documents their responses to curriculum units that focus on developing mathematical content knowledge and specific mathematical pedagogical knowledge. Contextualised in an Australian initial teacher education program, the pre-service teachers (n = 789) were surveyed at the commencement of their units to gain insights into what they considered important to learn in their forthcoming mathematics curriculum units. Qualitative responses to the survey were categorised using thematic analysis and then used to guide the development of tailored units. The mathematics curriculum units focused on attempting to ensure depth of school mathematics content knowledge and specific pedagogy associated with this mathematics. A second survey, administered through post-course evaluations (n = 405), suggests that pre-service teachers overwhelmingly valued the modelling of specific pedagogies and scaffolding of the teaching and learning of school mathematics concepts. The results have implications for the teaching of mathematics in initial teacher education programs, particularly in Australia but also elsewhere where there is an increasing emphasis on pre-service teachers being classroom ready at graduation. This includes a deep and connected knowledge of the mathematics and range of pedagogies for the mathematics they will soon be certified to teach. Keywords Genericism . Pre-service mathematics teacher preparation . Content . Pedagogy
Background In a recent analysis of Australian school student performance, Gonski et al. (2018) reported that since 2000: … academic performance has declined when compared to other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, suggesting that Australian students and schools are not improving at the same rate and are falling short of the full learning potential of which they are capable. (p. viii) The Australian Government’s Productivity Commission (2017) similarly raised concerns about school students’ declining results and low levels of teacher effectiveness. In * Stephen Norton [email protected] 1
Griffith University - Mount Gravatt Campus, Upper Mount Gravatt, Queensland, Australia
2016, Masters also expressed concern about the declining capacity of Australian children to excel in mathematics at a time when such capability was increasingly needed for the growth of economic and social capital. Gonski et al. (2018) underscored the importance of maintaining “an unrelenting focus” (p. xv) on the rigour of the implementation of reforms proposed by the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group in 2014 “to achieve the goal of raising
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