Perception of a group of elementary school teachers about their college math training

Abstract

Professionals trust that what they have learned in their initial training will be useful in their working life.  However, the changing society in which they live makes this a volatile fact, especially in careers related to education, since changes in society make the country’s educational curriculum change.  Consequently, college education must be comprehensive and provide a good foundation for self-formation, if necessary. This article is about the perception of a group of teachers of cycles I (1st to 3rd grade) and II (4th to 6th grade) of the General Basic Education of Costa Rica about their initial college education. Reporting about this perception has as aim to raise awareness, among the various actors that interfere in teacher training, about the aspects that can be improved in said training. The study was quantitative and descriptive. Data were collected from 121 elementary teachers from different educational regions in the country using a questionnaire in 2017. Regardless of the type of university from where they graduated, respondents felt that their initial college education had not been sufficient to meet classroom challenges. Teachers are not satisfied with their college education because they consider that some areas of the current Math curriculum were not addressed correctly, regarding content knowledge, as well as didactic content. The foregoing shows, on the one hand; the urgent need to establish professional development processes for these teachers to be trained in the required subjects; and on the other side, the urgent demand of making a Math curriculum upgrade of colleges.