Learning from the questions and advice of prospective and early career elementary mathematics teachers

Learning to teach mathematics is complex and remains a challenge for teacher preparation programs as they prepare the next generation of elementary mathematics teachers. The literature indicates the importance of supporting teachers’ ongoing learning and of creating caring and trusting learning environments in which learning can be most effective. This qualitative study is situated within one such learning opportunity and analyses the specific questions and written responses with two related data sets posed by 84 prospective and early career teachers to their peers while enrolled in an elementary mathematics methods course. Questions were categorized by focus to demonstrate specific concerns prospective and early career teachers had across four cohorts of mathematics methods courses. The written responses to a subset of those questions used as discussion prompts were thematically coded to explore the ideas and strategies prospective teachers shared with one another. Findings indicate that the prospective and early career teachers raised questions about teaching mathematics that centre on differentiation, content, curriculum/supplements, pacing, and teacher self-reported lack of proficiency. Implications of our research for mathematics teacher educators include the value of identifying categories of questions that may need to be centred in future instruction and providing opportunities for future elementary mathematics teachers to collaborate with peers.