RUME 27
2025
Alexandria, Virginia
Navigating the Transition From University to School: A Case Study of Incorporating Reasoning and Proving in Secondary Mathematics Teaching
Page: 422
University teacher preparation programs extend significant efforts to support the development of secondary teachers’ competence in teaching mathematics. However, it remains an open question whether or to what extent beginning mathematics teachers enact ambitious practices in their teaching – specifically, engaging students with reasoning and proving. We report on one teacher, Nancy, who, after two years of autonomous teaching seized the opportunity to design and enact a “proof unit,” by utilizing materials from her undergraduate studies. Using the framework of practical rationality and four professional obligations, we examine Nancy’s discourse over various time points on her professional journey, focusing on how she held on to the ideas from her university training, culminating in the reasoning-and-proof unit. Implications for strengthening mathematics teacher preparation beyond university programs are discussed.