Abstract

Whether intentionally or not, when teacher educators teach pre-service teachers, they enact teaching. Therefore, the importance of the teacher educator as a role model cannot be underestimated. This paper reports a theoretical discussion within an on-going research project aimed at understanding the knowledge base and modeling practices of mathematics teacher educators. We revisit and problematize the concept of 'modeling' taking into account what is modeled by teacher educators and how it is translated into teaching practices. We employed a qualitative research approach analyzing our theoretical positioning throughout our research project. The data sources for this study were audio recordings of several meetings held by the research group to review the literature on the subject and the discussion of the script of the interview focused on the knowledge base and teaching practices of mathematics teacher educators. Based on the re-conceptualization of 'modeling,' we put forward purposive explicit modeling (p+e modeling) in relation to the student teacher as a relevant instructional practice that, when enacted by teacher educators, might provide learning opportunities to student teachers and promote awareness of and reflection on teaching practices as integral dimensions of teaching. Finally, a future research agenda is proposed.