Mathematics teachers’ specialized knowledge: a secondary teacher's knowledge of rational numbers

ABSTRACT

Recognising teachers’ knowledge as one of the main factors influencing their practices and student learning, we aim to contribute to obtaining a better and deeper understanding of the specificities of teachers’ mathematical knowledge. A case study involving one 8th-grade Chilean mathematics teacher is presented in the context of rational numbers. Using video and audio recordings of classroom practices, questionnaires, and an interview, we sought to characterise, and better understand the content of the Knowledge of Topics from the perspective of the Mathematics Teachers’ Specialized Knowledge (MTSK) theoretical framework. The results reveal some critical aspects that teacher education should focus on, while also identifying lost opportunities and examples of “good” practices, thus contributing to the refinement of the MTSK conceptualisation. The conclusions can be considered in a broader perspective, with implications for teacher education in other contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Mathematics Teachers’ Specialized Knowledge
• teachers’ practices
• rational numbers

Acknowledgements

This paper is part of the research project Fondecyt 11140092 and MEC 80170101, funded by the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica CONICYT, Chile.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Diana Zakaryan http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3400-8399

Miguel Ribeiro http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3505-4431

Notes

1 The word “rational” and the explanation of Ana has the same meaning in Spanish: La palabra “Racional” viene asociada a “Ración”, pero de esa ración de repartir, de racionar, no de razonar, no de pensar”.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico, FONDECYT (Chile) under Grant N11140092 and by Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, CONICYT PCI/Atracción de capital humano avanzado del extranjero (Chile) under Grant N80170101.