Teacher education for Mathematical Literacy: A modelling approach

Introduction The introduction of Mathematical Literacy into the Further Education and Training (FET) curriculum in South Africa has brought with it formidable challenges to teacher education in this field. This paper attempts to unravel some pertinent issues arising in the training of Mathematical Literacy teachers, using an approach based on mathematical modelling. It does this by discussing the design and implementation of an ACE(ML), an Advanced Certificate in Education, specialising in Mathematical Literacy teaching. A number of impressions were gained in the first implementation cycle of this course ending in December 2005. Lessons learned from these impressions were used to adapt and improve the course during delivery and will be used to further improve following cycles of the course. Specific impressions gained from two particular incidences in the course, together with a discussion on the theoretical underpinnings of the course form the core of this paper. The programme under consideration was developed by the first author while working at Rhodes University Mathematics Education Project (RUMEP). It was developed in response to an urgent request by the Eastern Cape Department of Education, to provide professional training in Mathematical Literacy teaching, for 1000 teachers, for the implementation of the new FET curriculum in 2006. A collaborative committee with representatives from all the higher education institutions in the Eastern Cape was constituted in order to facilitate this task. A curriculum subcommittee, chaired by the first author, developed the basic structure of the curriculum. This curriculum was accredited so that training of the first cohort could be started in the second half of 2004. Each participating higher educational institution in the Eastern Cape developed the detailed design of its own programme in line with the basic curriculum structure. The final programme implemented by RUMEP for a cohort of 70 teachers is the focus of this paper.