Issues in learning to teach mathematics
Subject Knowledge and Pedagogical Knowledge
Doug French, University of Hull
At a simple level it would seem to be self-evident that any teacher of mathematics should in some sense 'know' the material that they are being expected to teach.
In this paper, Doug French suggests that success in examinations, even at a high level, is far from sufficient for effective teaching of mathematics. He argues that a teacher's ability to prepare effective lessons and to respond perceptively and flexibly to the multitude of difficulties that pupils encounter with mathematics is dependent on their own depth of understanding of the topics involved and their own powers of mathematical thinking, as well as their more general pedagogical skills and understandings. Subject knowledge which embraces depth of understanding, an ability to think mathematically and subject related pedagogical knowledge, as well as content knowledge at an appropriate level, is vitally important to all who teach mathematics.