Issues raised by testing trainee primary teachers’ mathematical knowledge

For the past four years, pre-service teachers on a postgraduate primary teacher preparation course have been able to enhance their knowledge and skills of the mathematics they will be teaching by opting for additional classes. At the beginning of the course, the pre-service teachers had not really engaged with the content knowledge they required in order to teach pupils up to 11 years of age. In many cases they initially assumed that they had the required knowledge but experienced difficulties during practical placement when it was too late to access additional classes. Therefore, it was decided to audit the pre-service teachers’ mathematical knowledge at the beginning of their 38 week course. This paper highlights the issues raised with regard to pre-service teacher confidence, attitude,and course provision by the decision to expose them to deficits in their knowledge. This is of current importance in Wales and England as recent Government regulations require all pre-service teachers to demonstrate levels of competency in mathematics. If teaching involves helping others to learn, then understanding the subject content to be taught is a fundamental requirement of teaching (Aubrey, 1997a, p. 3)