Helping Teacher Educators in Institutions of Higher Learning to Prepare Prospective and Practicing Teachers to Teach Mathematics to Young Children

Abstract

Research shows that young children possess surprising mathematical abilities and can benefit from Early Mathematics Education, which can lay a sound foundation for mathematics learning. Yet institutions of higher education generally provide their students with inadequate preparation in teaching mathematics to young children. To ameliorate this unfortunate situation, I have been working with colleagues on development of a comprehensive set of materials that teacher educators—usually professors and instructors in institutions of higher learning—can use in their teaching, either live or online. This paper describes a framework for training teacher educators and their students and presents an account of materials that can be used to promote understanding of the relevant mathematics, mathematical thinking of young children, and the kind of formative assessment that can be useful for teachers.