Already since Felix Klein, the aim of teacher educators has been to show pre-service teachers the importance of the subject-specific part of teacher education and convey a “higher standpoint” so that the knowledge and skills acquired in university studies can be utilized in classroom situations. In this contribution we introduce the concept of “mathematical orientation” as a situational competency of mathematics teachers. We developed an analytical framework based on Felix Klein’s pervasive approach to elementary mathematics from a higher standpoint and the work of the philosopher Stegmaier on orientation that can be used to describe teachers’ situational reflections and actions related to mathematical content. We illustrate its different components by presenting pre-service teachers’ reflections on mathematical pieces of content.
Already since Felix Klein, the aim of teacher educators has been to show pre-service teachers the importance of the subject-specific part of teacher education and convey a “higher standpoint” so that the knowledge and skills acquired in university studies can be utilized in classroom situations. In this contribution we introduce the concept of “mathematical orientation” as a situational competency of mathematics teachers. We developed an analytical framework based on Felix Klein’s pervasive approach to elementary mathematics from a higher standpoint and the work of the philosopher Stegmaier on orientation that can be used to describe teachers’ situational reflections and actions related to mathematical content. We illustrate its different components by presenting pre-service teachers’ reflections on mathematical pieces of content.