PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES VERBALIZED BY FUTURE MATHEMATICS TEACHERS: DISCURSIVE INTERACTIONS WITH TEACHERS AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Abstract

A largely unexplored gap in teacher education concerns the understanding of professional learning opportunities (PLOs) offered to future mathematics teachers when they participate in border communities with secondary school teachers. Based on this problem, the research question was formulated: What PLOs were perceived by future mathematics teachers when they interacted with secondary school teachers in a formative process about mathematical reasoning and structured by the PLOT model? A qualitative research study was developed with the objective of identify, describe, analyze and contrast the PLOs verbalized by two future teachers, triggered from discursive interactions with secondary school teachers. The methodological approach involved semi-structured interviews, developed from audiovisual recordings of the meetings. The theoretical frameworks supported the construction of categories and indicators of analysis related to teacher knowledge. The research shows that the experience in a border community, combined with the PLOT model, constitutes a formative space for future teachers, by promoting situated and reflective PLOs that would hardly emerge in traditional formative contexts.