From standards-led to market-driven : a critical moment for adult numeracy teacher trainers

There has been a shift in the training of numeracy teachers in England away from a highly regulated 'standards-based' approach to teacher training towards one that seeks to engage employer groups and stakeholders in determining the training needs of teachers in further education. This shift has taken place within the context of rapid reform to numeracy and mathematics curricula for post-16 learners. The planned curriculum changes have again highlighted the shortage of qualified numeracy teachers needed to implement national policy initiatives, and has brought numeracy teacher training onto the policy agenda once again. This paper uses Bernstein's notions of vertical teacher knowledge and horizontal teacher knowledge to consider how trainee teachers may be supported to bridge the gap between their own mathematical knowledge and their classroom practice as numeracy teachers. It also draws on Shulman's seven types of teacher knowledge to make these connections. Recommendations made relate to the entry criteria for adult numeracy teachers, allowing 'time and space' to reflect with other trainees rather than 'immersion in practice', the benefits of practitioner-led enquiry to develop innovative pedagogies, and enhanced links between further education and school-based mathematics and between further education and higher educatio