4: Relationships between Content Knowledge, Authority, Teaching Practice, and Reflection

In previous research, the author identified connections between the locus of authority (internal or external) from the viewpoint of preservice teachers and their propensities to think reflectively about pedagogical dilemmas (Mewborn, 1999). It was proposed that when preservice teachers see themselves as having the authority to raise and solve pedagogical dilemmas, they are more likely to think reflectively. In contrast, when preservice teachers see authority as external to them (residing in a teacher educator, an experienced classroom teacher, or in a textbook), they are inclined not to think reflectively about pedagogical dilemmas. The study reported here extends this connection to include the way that authority and mathematical content knowledge are interconnected in shaping teaching practice and reflection on that practice. In particular, this chapter describes four possible interactions between authority (internal/external) and mathematical content knowledge (high/low) and associates each with a particular approach to teaching mathematics and reflecting on that teaching.