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Pre-service teachers’ future-oriented mathematical identity work

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Abstract

Research on identity has been a growing domain in the contexts of teacher education and mathematics education; however, identity work has been explored to a much lesser extent, with a future orientation overlooked. In addition, earlier studies have not provided sufficient knowledge on how different elementary teacher education programs might facilitate pre-service teachers’ identity work. In this study, we compare future-oriented mathematical identity work through a narrative framework considering six pre-service teachers undergoing two different teacher education programs. All pre-service teachers reported having had negative experiences with mathematics during their school years. Based on the results we conclude that despite the striking similarities in pre-service teachers’ mathematical backgrounds, the ways in which these cases are conducting their identity work differ substantially. It seems that the main reasons for these differences are different emphases and pedagogical practices in mathematics education courses. Additionally, we further elaborate on our earlier conceptualisation of identity work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland

    Sonja Lutovac

  2. Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Raimo Kaasila

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  1. Sonja Lutovac
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  2. Raimo Kaasila
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Correspondence to Raimo Kaasila.

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Lutovac, S., Kaasila, R. Pre-service teachers’ future-oriented mathematical identity work. Educ Stud Math 85, 129–142 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-013-9500-8

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