Viewing 'Mathematics for Teaching' as a Form of Applied Mathematics: Implications for the Mathematical Preparation of Teachers

摘要

Introduction The profound implications of teachers' mathematical knowledge for the quality of the learning opportunities that teachers can offer to their students (e.g., [2]) justifies, at least in part, the growing research focus on teachers' mathematical knowledge. This research has given rise to the notion of Mathematics for Teaching (MfT) [3], [4], which describes the body of mathematics that is important for teachers to know in order to be able to successfully manage the mathematical demands of their professional practice, i.e., teaching mathematics to children. This is contrasted, for example, with the mathematics that is important for other professionals such as engineers and physicists whose work also imposes specific mathematical demands. Of course there is overlap between the mathematics that is important to different workplaces. Yet there are also certain mathematical ideas or ways os knowing and knowing how to use these ideas that are more relevant to one workplace than to another.