The mathematical education of secondary teachers

This chapter explores the influence of pre-service teacher education on future secondary teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching across several of the countries/regions that participated in the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M) including Chile, Chinese Taipei, Germany, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Switzerland, and Thailand, and paying particular attention to the situation in the United States of America. This chapter uses survey and knowledge assessment data collected by TEDS-M from representative samples of teacher education programs and their future secondary teachers across these countries/regions. Multilevel analyses show wide variability in the knowledge for teaching mathematics future secondary teachers attain. Previous mathematics knowledge as a requirement for entry into teacher education and mathematics-rich opportunities to learn were associated with higher and deeper levels of mathematical and mathematical pedagogical knowledge, after controlling for individual characteristics. Beliefs espousing traditional orientations to learning mathematics were associated with lower levels of performance in the knowledge assessments. The discussion highlights the importance of self-study and self-regulation in teacher education.