Teacher knowledge and its sources: Perceptions of lower secondary teachers of mathematics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48489/quadrante.31130Keywords:
mathematics education, perceptions and beliefs, sources of knowledge, teacher knowledge, teacher education and developmentAbstract
Understanding what knowledge domains teachers perceive as the basis for teaching mathematics is important because teachers’ perceptions (or beliefs or attitudes) can influence the way they approach teacher development and what they learn from it. The interest of this study is mathematics teachers’ perceptions of knowledge needed for teaching mathematics and its sources. Six lower secondary teachers of mathematics (Years 7 to 10) in Tasmania, Australia, completed a questionnaire including eight open-ended items, and the data were content analysed deductively. Mostly a single knowledge dimension was articulated (knowledge of content and mathematics, or knowledge of content) as opposed to the multidimensionality of teacher knowledge. Several sources of teacher knowledge were evident in teachers’ articulations including both formal (workshops, conferences) and informal (peer interactions or collaboration) sources, whilst university coursework and educational research sources were absent. Teacher education and development contexts might explain these findings, and implications for them are discussed.
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