Australian Journal of Teacher Education - Vol 44 - Issue 5 - Article 1 - Middle School Mathematics Pre-service Teacher’s Responses to a Mathematics Content and Specific Mathematics Pedagogy Intervention

Oct 15, 2026

This article investigates Australian middle school mathematics pre-service teachers’ knowledge and affect, focusing on what graduate-entry trainees know, how confident they feel, and their self-efficacy at the start of a mathematics curriculum course. Findings show very poor memory of middle-years mathematics paired with low confidence and self-efficacy. An intervention targets these gaps, and results are interpreted through the “genericism” debate in pre-service teacher preparation and its impact on the value of discipline knowledge.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Australian Journal of Teacher Education | Volume 44 | Issue 5 | Article 1 | | --- | --- | | 2019
Middle School Mathematics Pre-service Teacher’s Responses to a Mathematics Content and Specific Mathematics Pedagogy Intervention
Stephen J. Norton
Griffith Univeristy, s.norton@griffith.edu.au | | Recommended Citation Norton, S. J. (2019). Middle School Mathematics Pre-service Teacher’s Responses to a Mathematics Content and Specific Mathematics Pedagogy Intervention. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 44 (5). Retrieved from [https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol44/iss5/1](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol44/iss5/1) This Journal Article is posted at Research Online. [https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol44/iss5/1](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol44/iss5/1) Australian Journal of Teacher Education Middle School Mathematics Pre-service Teacher’s Responses to a Mathematics Content and Specific Mathematics Pedagogy Intervention Stephen Norton Griffith University Abstract: Prospective middle school pre-service teachers ’ knowledge and affect in Australia has had little empirical research. In this study, 108 graduate entry pre-service teachers were surveyed for their knowledge of middle years’mathematics, confidence, and self efficacy at the commencement of a mathematics curriculum course. It was found that their memory of middle years ’ mathematics was very poor and this was accompanied by low levels of confidence and selfefficacy. An intervention was undertaken to address these issues. The findings are discussed in the context of the “genericism” of pre service teacher preparation. In particular, the findings call into question the justification for pre-service entry to such a mathematics curriculum course on the basis of proxy measures of mathematics knowledge, without which the teaching of the discipline becomes challenging. Introduction The main aim of this paper is to enhance practice with respect to mathematics teacher education, particularly in Australia but potentially more broadly across the West. The summary of the literature below illustrates that models of the relationship between teacher knowledge of mathematics and teacher confidence and effectiveness in classroom practice are fairly well developed. The paper presents empirical data that support the connections between knowledge of mathematics and confidence to teach it, but more importantly it gives pre-service teachers a voice as to what forms of knowledge and skills they think ought to take priority in mathematics teacher education courses. Pre-service teachers’ voice on the nature of their professional preparation is relevant because there is an assertion that Western universities – and that includes Australian teacher preparation institutions – have manifested forms of anti-intellectualism (Keeling & Hersh, 2012; Kotzee, 2012). The key factor in this accusation is that there has been a turn away from specific discipline knowledge to the embracing of “genericism”(Beck & Young, 2005, p. 183), such generic material including “thinking skills”,“problem solving”, and “reflective practice”. The argument is that there has been too much focus on generic training rather than disciplinary education (Beck & Young, 2005; Winche, 2010) and this has the effect of emptying courses of discipline content. The focus becomes on how the professional should act, rather than what exactly the professional should do. Associated with this process is a devaluing of discipline knowledge in its own right, a corrosive popular wisdom that Young and Muller (2010) claim is becoming prevalent in the West but which is totally absent from the emerging economies of South Korea, China, and India. It is claimed that genericism is a form of anti-intellectualism and that it manifests in the dismissal of boundaries between subjects, between school and everyday knowledge, and between academic and vocational curricula (Keeling & Hersh, 2012; Young, 2011) . The key poi

FAQs

What does the study examine about pre-service teachers at the start of the course?

It examines prospective middle school teachers’ mathematics knowledge, confidence, and self-efficacy when beginning a mathematics curriculum course.

What were the key findings before the intervention?

Pre-service teachers had very poor recall of middle-years mathematics, accompanied by low confidence and low self-efficacy.

How is the intervention evaluated in the paper?

The findings are discussed in relation to “genericism” in pre-service teacher preparation and the role of proxy measures of mathematics knowledge for course entry.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by 4398046744996