Preparing mathematics teachers for the 21st-century classroom.

Abstract

This qualitative study explored pre-service mathematics teachers’ preparation for teaching in the 21st-century classroom during their B.Ed. Programme at a university. This purpose was explored mainly from the perspective of a set of 4th year pre-service mathematics teachers’ contextual understanding of the effectiveness of the theories and practices that comprise their training. The researcher employed a qualitative approach because it allowed for multiple perspectives and permitted flexibility in questions and probes. This study utilised an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to elicit the required answers to the research questions. Hence, a purposeful sampling technique was utilised to select 6 participants to represent the entire population. The participants' responses were organised using the coding process to generate categories and themes for analysis and interpretation of the findings. From the analysis of the data, the following findings emerged: Participants identified lesson planning and enactment and the use of appropriate teaching methods as some of the most critical training that was helpful in their teaching practice: question and answers, group work, concrete and visual representations were effective teaching strategies used by the participants to engage learners actively; the independent practice was used to allow each learner to work towards mastery of the subject content knowledge and progress at their own pace, while guided practice was offered to support learners with difficulties, but these were shot lived because participants high jacked the process to provide quick answers due to shortage of time; real-world problems were used to prove that mathematics is about reasoning and connecting abstract ideas to improve our daily lives, rather than memorising the procedures. Above all, participants demonstrated they could explain mathematical concepts better by using the 4Cs. The study also identified some factors that inhibit preservice mathematics teachers’ ability to teach effectively, including frustration due to lack of resources, inadequate time, learner mindset, and language barrier. The following recommendations were made to serve as a remedy to the above challenges: it is recommended that priority be given to quality assessment rather than quantity; provide a Mathematics remediation programme, which focuses on reviewing and building foundational mathematics skills; and provide adequate learning resources. These findings affirm the efficacy of using 21st-century skills to actualise effective teaching and learning in our classrooms, and the researcher recommends its application in schools.