Using Jamie’s Experiences: An Investigation into Using Teachers’ Stories in Pre-service Mathematics Teacher Education

Ensuring student teachers are prepared for the realities and dilemmas of the secondary classroom is an essential goal of pre-service teacher education. This paper describes a pilot study into the effectiveness of using a case-method interview in helping address such issues. Informed by the experiences of a beginning teacher, the case included theoretical links and related tasks. Findings included that student teachers were positive about case method stating it had assisted their personal growth as mathematics teachers. “It’s nice to see that I am not the only one…” The purpose of the pilot study reported in this paper was to examine the effect of using scenario-based learning, case method in particular, in pre-service secondary mathematics teacher education. This paper describes a classroom trial of such a learning tool with graduate diploma student teachers. Case method teaching as a means for using people’s stories as a basis for combining theory and application is well established in teaching disciplines such as business, law, and medicine. Case method and how best to apply it for teaching and learning are well described by a range of authors (Erskine, Leenders & Maufette-Leenders, 2003; Barnes