How mathematics teachers develop their pedagogical knowledge: a study of six secondary schools in Singapore

Fan, Lianghuo and Cheong, Christina (2005) How mathematics teachers develop their pedagogical knowledge: a study of six secondary schools in Singapore. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Montréal, Canada. 52 pp .

Abstract

This study was mainly intended to investigate how maths teachers in secondary schools develop their pedagogical knowledge. The study looked into the lives of participating teachers, including their school experiences, pre-service training and in-service experiences, to investigate the sources of their pedagogical knowledge. Data was collected from 73 Maths teachers in 6 secondary schools (drawn from a stratified random sample from all 152 secondary schools in Singapore) through surveys, classroom observation, and teacher interview. The findings indicated that there were various sources from which teachers developed their pedagogical knowledge. Overall, their own teaching experience and reflection and informal exchanges with colleagues were the most important sources; in-service training, pre-service training and organised professional activities were the sources of secondary importance; and teachers' experience as school students and reading professional journals and books were the least important ones. The study revealed that it is vital for teachers to learn for the job and learn on the job. Other implications are also discussed in the paper.

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