Secondary Mathematics Cooperating Teachers’ Perceptions of the Purpose of Student Teaching

Source: Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, Volume 13, Number 2,
99-119. (April 2010).

The goal of this article is to examine secondary mathematics cooperating teachers’ perceptions of the primary purposes of student teaching and their roles in accomplishing those purposes.

45 secondary mathematics cooperating teachers completed the a survey addressed those issues.

The most common purposes were interacting with an experienced, practising teacher, having a real classroom experience, and experiencing and learning about classroom management.
The most common roles were providing the space for experience, modeling, facilitating reflection, and sharing knowledge.

The findings provided insights into the cooperating teachers’ perceptions about both what should be learned through student teaching and how it should be learned. These findings paint a picture of cooperating teachers who do not see themselves as teacher educators—teachers of student teachers.

Implications for mathematics teacher educators are discussed.