3331

Matthew. B. Etherington

philosophy of mathematics education

2013

27

mathematics , social constructivism , second career teachers, , lived experience, , teacher education , NCTM

This report explores the image of mathematics as understood from the perspective of three mature age second career pre-service teachers. Three one hour interviews were conducted at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (U/T) with three second career graduate pre-service teachers over the course of one academic semester. Their perceptions of mathematics suggest that second career teachers have real-world crossdisciplinary images of mathematics contingent on their work-life experience. This could suggest that the extended career and lived experiences of second career teachers may well help lead the way to changing the old logical humanist image of mathematical practice and understanding to a social constructivist philosophical position of mathematical truths ultimately justified on the basis of lived experience and dialogue. The results of this small scale report suggests that teacher education programs and school classrooms could capitalize on the lived work-life of second career teachers to make mathematics exciting, communicative, integrated, relational and lived.