Preservice Special Education Teachers’ Experience of a Math Methods Course: Examining the Development of Personal and Pedagogical Efficacy

Abstract

Students with disabilities have scored well below their same-aged peers on national mathematics standardized tests for decades. This problem is compounded by special education teachers who lack strong content knowledge, experience math anxiety, and have poor self-confidence in their ability to teach math. This qualitative study explores three preservice special education teachers' experiences in a Math Methods course designed to encourage students to view mathematics through a growth mindset. After the course ended, individual interviews were conducted, and findings revealed personal growth in confidence and pedagogical knowledge. Components that influenced their decision included Socratic conversations centered around a mathematical mindset book study, a focus student project, and extra hands-on application time resulting from the use of the flipped instruction model. This information contributes to educator preparation literature as teacher educators work to best support future P-12 educators to impact their future students and help overcome barriers to learning.

Disclosure statement

The authors report that there are no competing interests to declare.

IRB approval

This research was approved by the university’s Institutional Review Board and assigned the IRB# H22347. The approval letter is available if needed.