Looking Again at the 'Supportive' Environment of Constructivist Pedagogy: An example from preservice teacher education in mathematics

Abstract

Recordings of the author's constructivist practice in mathematics pedagogy in pre-service teacher education are analysed. It is concluded that the intended supportive environment provided for students reinforced commonsense conservative assumptions of teaching-as-usual and that alternative and additional pedagogical strategies will need to be employed if the context is to be supportive by enhancing students' ability to teach mathematics differently. These findings could have implications for improving strategies for clarifying taken-for-granted assumptions of constructivist discourse.