Thinking and Creativity in Learning Mathematics Teaching

Abstract: Preparation to teach school mathematics should include knowing how to respond to classroom mathematical interactions. Research literature of mathematics teaching asserts that teacher’s ability to respond to classroom interactions is dependent on her knowledge of subject matter and pedagogical strategies as well as instant recognition of what the student is saying. As a consequence, teacher education programs should cultivate teacher’s ability to respond to classroom mathematical interactions by practicing the integration of mathematical and pedagogical reasoning discourses. This study re-evaluates the assumption of current cognitive models of teacher’s knowledge to integrate mathematical and pedagogical reasoning and the determinative role it plays in relating teacher’s knowledge and classroom interactions. The research was undertaken as a micro- perspective on teachers’ responses to students’ mathematical reactions. Through the analysis of talk-in-interaction from mathematics classrooms of two experienced teachers, the study explored the relationship between teacher’s mathematical and pedagogical thoughts. The analysis of the classroom excerpts drew attention to a different dynamics of the association of mathematical and pedagogical thoughts based on perceptual understanding rather than determinative conceptual reasoning for teaching actions. The theoretical implications of the findings highlight the necessity to correspond conceptual understandings and perceptual understandings of classroom mathematical interactions. At the practical level, the study illustrates the potential in the exploration of the diversity of the relationships between mathematical and pedagogical thoughts to stretch teachers’ perceptual understanding of what is happening in classroom teaching and enhance their reflective thinking.