Combining theories in research in mathematics teacher education

Abstract

In this paper, we describe how the combination of two theories, each embedded in a different realm, may contribute to evaluating teachers' knowledge. One is Shulman's theory, embedded in general, teacher education, and the other is Fischbein's theory, addressing learners' mathematical conceptions and misconceptions. We first briefly describe each of the two theories and our suggestions for combining them, formulating the ShulmanFischbein framework. Then, we present two research segments that illustrate the potential of the implementation of the Shulman-Fischbein framework to the study of mathematics teachers' ways of thinking. We conclude with general comments on possible contributions of combining theories that were developed in mathematics education and in other domains to mathematics teacher education.

Convergent and divergent thinking in task modification: a case of Korean prospective mathematics teachers’ exploration

“…In line with researchers' suggestions of using theory in teacher education (for example, Beghetto and Sriraman 2017;Schoenfeld and Kilpatrick 2008;Tsamir 2008), research studies in three categories were given to PTs: (1) general perspectives on creativity education focusing on studies about creative people, creative processes, creative products, and confluence perspectives (e.g., Csikszentmihalyi 1999Csikszentmihalyi , 2014Kaufman and Sternberg 2006;Sternberg 2003); (2) studies on enhancing creativity by increasing or maintaining levels of cognitive demands in tasks (e.g., Hughes et al 2009); and (3) studies about encouraging creative thinking by facing and dealing with ambiguity or pathologies and misconceptions (e.g., Amit and Gilat 2012;Sriraman 2005Sriraman , 2006Sriraman , 2009Sriraman and Dickman 2017). All the literature reviewed was actively quoted by PTs when justifying their TTM and micro-teaching in the two reports.…”

“…4.4. This study also contributes to research on the use of research studies as a reference for TTM and reflection on it (Tsamir 2008). As pointed by numerous researchers of creativity, there are contradictions within the school system, curriculum and teachers views on how to foster creativity in their classrooms (Beghetto and Sriraman 2017).…”