Relationships between Chinese preservice mathematics teachers’ knowledge, pedagogical beliefs, and noticing

Abstract In this article, we examine the relationships among teacher knowledge, pedagogical beliefs, and professional noticing, specifically focusing on the role of beliefs in mediating between teacher knowledge and noticing, based on a study involving 583 preservice mathematics teachers in China. The data were evaluated using correlational analysis and path analysis. The findings showed that, in contrast with common expectations and earlier results, the preservice teachers’ mathematical content knowledge (MCK) correlated more strongly than their mathematical pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK) with their noticing. However, as expected, transmissive pedagogical beliefs were significantly and negatively correlated with teacher noticing, and constructivist pedagogical beliefs had a significant positive relationship with their noticing. Furthermore, teacher knowledge and pedagogical beliefs distinctly influenced various facets of teacher noticing. Notably, teacher knowledge was further found to significantly influence teacher noticing indirectly via pedagogical beliefs. The findings suggest that societal and cultural norms, alongside teaching experience, moderate the relationships among teacher knowledge, beliefs, and noticing.