WHO AM I AND HOW DID I GET HERE?: EXPLORING THE MATHEMATICAL IDENTITY OF STUDENT TEACHERS

This paper reports on the results of a SCoTENS funded project examining the ; mathematical identity of student teachers who have chosen to specialise in mathematics; in their B.Ed programme. Students were drawn from two institutions, one in Northern ; Ireland, one in the Republic. Mathematical identity is considered as the multifaceted ; relationship that an individual has with mathematics, including knowledge and ; experiences, perceptions of oneself and others. Understanding student teachers’ mathematical identity is of critical importance because, as is widely indicated in the ; literature, it is likely to have a major impact on their behaviour as a teacher. Our research method uses narrative as a tool to access this identity. The narrative ; material was gathered in two stages. The first stage involved a questionnaire with open ; ended prompts giving respondents the opportunity for their mathematical story to flow ; freely. This was followed by use of focus groups, one in each institution, to elicit further; narrative development. Our analysis of these narratives gives some insight into the ; formation of mathematical identity amongst such a select wellmotivated group. We ; expect this to inform good practice more broadly in mathematics education.