In-service Teachers’ geometry content knowledge: implications for how geometry is taught in teacher training institutions

Abstract

The study intended to find out how in-service teachers were trained to teach geometry in Zimbabwe. Mixed method was employed in this study, in which qualitative and quantitative methods are concurrently used. While the questionnaire with closed ended questions constituted the quantitative aspect of the study, the open ended questionnaire questions and focus-group discussions were used for the qualitative aspect. The study participants consisted of 40 in-service teachers who completed the questionnaires and then participated in focus-group discussions. The findings reveal that 52.5 per cent of the teachers were adequately prepared to teach geometry and both teacher-centred and learner-centred approaches were used during their training. It emerged that teachers are likely to teach using the approaches that they experienced during their training. It is recommended that initial teacher training programs should adequately train teachers to teach geometry for them to be able to teach it effectively in schools.