Pedagogies of Teacher Preparation: Case of Mathematics Enhancement Courses in England

• In Event: 70.042 - International Teacher Education: Promising Pedagogies

Abstract

This paper outlines the importance of Enhancement Courses, particularly in mathematics, to the preservice landscape in England. These programs occur after an individual has completed a degree, but before admittance to preservice teacher education. The pedagogies used in these programs are characterized as both pedagogies of teacher preparation and of selection for preservice. The learning that takes place in these programs is an under-researched area. The chapter addresses that issue by specifying, analyzing and justifying the pedagogies of teacher preparation deployed in the context of one Mathematics Enhancement Course (MEC). We draw on international research to argue that there is a specific body of knowledge for teaching their subject area which all teachers need to generate. In terms of empirical work and personal scholarship, the chapter is based primarily on the scholarship and practice of the first author, Clarke, between 2008 and 2014. We present an exemplar of teaching, following the principles of the pedagogies of preparation in place for the MEC. These pedagogies aim to develop for student teachers a profound or ‘relational understanding’ of fundamental mathematics, aiming for the re-experiencing and re-construction of an aspect of mathematics which they first learned as young grade school students. We argue that a distinctive form of mathematical knowledge is thus produced in and through the teaching processes. In the final part of the chapter, we outline the conditions in which these pedagogies might be adopted in other contexts, arguing that they represent good practice in teaching subject knowledge in all teacher education programs.

Authors

• John Clarke, University of East London

• Jean M.F. Murray, University of East London