This article is an essay that aims to problematize and discuss the place of mathematics in Mathematics Teacher Degree programs. It is organized around two basic questions: what are we talking about when we refer to mathematics that teachers need to know well for teaching? Which educational practices can contribute to the appropriation of this fundamental mathematics by future teachers for their professional work? To find the answers, different social practices of mathematics educators were problematized seeking clues in those practices regarding the kind of mathematical knowledge required and mobilized in their work. After that, some historical attempts to address the problem of mathematical education of teachers were reviewed, with Felix Klein, Richard Courant and Bento de Jesus Caraça as references, and some Brazilian and international research regarding the training of mathematics teachers. Based on these studies, this article highlights the existence, in the initial training of mathematics teachers, of a quasi trichotomy among academic mathematics, didactic-pedagogic content and teaching practice in schools. To break with this trichotomic tradition some changes are suggested regarding the practice and research on teacher education. For example, teacher training in mathematics must be guided by the different social practices of mathematics educators. These practices can to be adopted in training and projects in which undergraduates can to be integrated, making contrasts, discussions and investigations about the relationships among their undergraduate training in mathematics, their pedagogical-didactic training related to the content, and the complexity of school practices.
Mathematics Degree; Mathematics Teacher Education; Educational Practices; Mathematics for Teaching
