The MaTEN project starts with a systematic study of mathematics teaching in primary and secondary school teacher education in Norway, across institutions. Although all institutions are subject to the same national regulations, there are variations in how mathematics courses are organized and how they are taught. One purpose of the mapping we are doing is to identify effective, or best, practices that mathematics teacher educators can use. We will collect data from current and former students, mathematics teacher educators employed at the institutions, and practice teachers in schools. The data base will include a total of eight data sources:

• National surveys distributed to current student teachers, recent graduates, mathematics teacher educators at universities/college level, and practice teachers
• Interviews with mathematics teacher educators at a sample of 5-6 institutions
• Interviews with current student teachers, recent graduates and practice teachers affiliated with NTNU

In all data collection, we focus on the mathematics part of teacher education, based on the courses in the study programs. Differences between cycle 1 (first three years) and cycle 2 (last two years) are important to capture. The methods for analysis and summary of results will be partly quantitative and partly qualitative. Together, the data base should provide us with answers to the following overarching questions:

1.1 How do Norwegian MTEs, mentor teachers, recent graduates, and PSTs characterize effective mathematics teacher education in the MGLU programs?

1.2 What characterizes MTEs’ objectives and course design principles across Cycles 1 and 2, and what are the main differences between the cycles?

1.3 How do MTEs facilitate PSTs’ understanding of the relationships between theory worked on in the courses and the practice, both in school placement and in their future career as mathematics teachers, and how do the MTEs address the tension between the two?

As a guide to what we ask for, we use the framework learning to teach in a community (Hammerness et al., 2005). There, student teachers’ development is described using five components: a vision of what good teaching is, tools they can use in teaching (material and theoretical), understandings of mathematics and learning mathematics, practices to adopt, and dispositions towards the subject of mathematics and mathematics teaching.

References

Hammerness, K., Darling-Hammond, L., Bransford, J., Berliner, D., Cochran-Smith, M., McDonald, M., & Zeichner, K. (2005). How teachers learn and develop. In L. Darling-Hammond & J. Bransford (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do (pp. 358–389). Jossey-Bass/Wiley.