Continuing Professional Education for Pre-service Teachers of Mental Arithmetic

Abstract

The intellectual development of preschoolers and primary school children is facilitated by mental arithmetic training using a system of quick oral math on an abacus. A continuing professional development program must prepare pre-service teachers to use innovative teaching methods for quick oral math during classroom and extracurricular activities. The purpose of the study is to determine the effectiveness of a continuing professional education program that prepares pre-service teachers to instruct in mental arithmetic. We developed and implemented the "Mental Arithmetic for Educators" program organized into five thematic blocks. The qualitative exploratory study (2017-2019) involved 25 participants majoring in teacher education, who did a questionnaire before and after completing the program and underwent praxis. To assess the effectiveness of the program, we analyzed the results of their questionnaires and praxis reports describing the implementation of innovative teaching methods. The results of the questionnaire show a rise in the level of the participants' ability to use innovative teaching methods during classroom and extracurricular activities, which the analyzed praxis reports proved. The findings demonstrate that after completing the program the pre-service teachers successfully introduced innovative teaching methods for mental arithmetic and contributed to increasing children's reaction times and ability to concentrate, that is boosted children's intellectual development. Such programs should be incorporated into the continuing education system of higher education institutions, which is novel in the international theory and methodology of preparing pre-service and in-service teachers to instruct in mental arithmetic.