Prospective Teachers’ Challenges in Teaching Reasoning-and-Proving in Their Mentor Teachers’ Classrooms

• In Event: Mathematical Teachers’ Beliefs and Knowledge

Abstract

Reasoning-and-proving (RP) is at the heart of mathematical sense-making and important for all students' learning as early as the elementary school. Yet, RP typically has a marginal place in elementary classrooms. This situation is partly attributed to that many (prospective) elementary teachers have (1) weak mathematical knowledge about RP and (2) counterproductive beliefs concerning its teaching. Following-up on an intervention study that helped a group of prospective elementary teachers make significant progress in overcoming these two major obstacles to teaching RP, we examined the challenges that three of these prospective teachers faced in planning and teaching lessons related to RP in their mentor teachers’ classrooms. Our findings contribute to research knowledge about priority areas for teacher preparation related to RP.

Authors

• Gabriel J. Stylianides, University of Oxford

• Andreas J. Stylianides, University of Cambridge

• Leah Shilling-Traina, Longwood University