Current Research on Prospective Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Knowledge

This chapter focuses on research on pre-service secondary school mathematics teachers’ (PSMT) knowledge. Fifty-nine papers were reviewed and each paper was coded according to its research focus, theoretical and methodological framework, main findings and the contribution of the study. We identified three main thematic areas to frame the discussion of the papers: the exploration of knowledge, the impact of teacher education on its development, and the process that this knowledge develops. The review shows that: both small-scale and large-scale studies continue to recognize different aspects of teacher knowledge and indicate certain difficulties of PSMTs; a large number of teacher education practices have a positive impact on PSMTs’ knowledge; research has started to focus on the process of how PSMTs’ knowledge develops either in mathematical or in teaching discourses.