Learning to become a teacher of mathematical problem solving

Abstract : I investigated student teachers in their second year of study as future teachers in the upper primary school, aiming to find out how they progress in a specific course module. The course is part of the curriculum of intermediate phase teacher education programme. The course is divided in modules, one of which is mathematics content in the second year of study. In the study, I propose that the students are in a transition between the world of school mathematics as their default modality and the world of a teacher of mathematics, which they are aiming to become. This period of ‘becoming’ a teacher is especially challenging for students who did not experience high quality mathematics education at school. In the thesis, I propose that the university learning space could serve as a site for an apprenticeship in problem-solving, in which students are made aware of their role as apprentices of their chosen profession. I approached the study as a practitioner researcher, modelling problem-solving for students and viewing the activities as apprentices in a 'world of mathematical thinking' - thus more than a typical pedagogical space. The sample of the study comprised a cohort of second-year student teachers (n = 62), in a mathematics content course (or a ‘module’ of a course). The module extended over a period of 12 weeks, with the aim to develop student teachers to become mathematical problem-solving proficient and to, ultimately, become an example for the learners in their future classrooms. The study had a dual focus - finding out how the student teachers’ mathematical proficiency developed by participating in a mathematical problem-solving course, and what the mediational challenges were. I utilized aspects of ‘third generation activity theory’, specifically Engeström’s (1987, 2001) activity systems analysis (ASA) tool for the analysis of the data, which I sourced through a variety of methods. I gathered data from the students’ reflective journals, and their problem-solving task output as well questionnaires about their beliefs about problem-solving in mathematics, and level of in-the-moment engagement...Ph.D. (Education