The Balance of Teacher Knowledge: Mathematics and Pedagogy

Abstract

Teacher education and the professional development of practicing teachers need to provide a sound basis of knowledge for teaching, theoretically but also with strong ties to issues of practice. Although this seems like a common-sense statement, it is harder to make a reality than expected. At least three factors could account for this difficulty: the sheer complexity of the knowledge required for teaching, the interconnectedness of knowledge, and the fact that teachers’ knowledge comes from different and in certain cases even contradictory sources.