Many mathematics teachers, at one time or another, have exclaimed that “I really didn’t understand mathematics, until I had to teach it.” Secondary mathematics teachers’ knowledge, both subject matter and pedagogical content, plays an important role in their teaching of the subject. Teacher education programs are, therefore, designed to give preservice teachers satisfactory preparation in both domains. However, a teachers’ knowledge does not purely remain in the mind, it is also developed by the practices learned as a member of a community. Hence, practical experiences compliment academic preparation, which is why most teacher preparation programs culminate with the student teaching period. Ettiene Wenger once argued that learning is the same thing as one’s identity development in a community. So, it is in this teaching internship period that mathematics teacher interns develop their professional identity through the interrelationship of their Aspects of Self-in-Community (i.e., their role as a teacher in a classroom) and their Aspects of Self-in-Mind (i.e., their pedagogical and subject matter knowledge). The purpose of this project is to better understand the role that teaching practice has on secondary mathematics teacher interns’ perceptions of their evolving sense of knowing mathematics. In this dissertation research project, I relied on case study methodology to engage with each intern in an ongoing and open dialogue (through the use of digital reflection journals, interviews, and observations) as they worked to created reflective narratives throughout one school year in order to explore their notions of what they think means to understand a mathematical concept and to understand the ways in which they think that the work of teaching influenced their perception of their personal mathematical content knowledge. I analyzed all data using teacher noticing and teacher’s mathematical knowledge for teaching frameworks. From each intern’s narrative I developed claims about their mathematical knowledge by interpreting their experiences through the lens of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching. From their experiences, I found that their curricular context, influence of their mentor teachers, and collective learning by teaching were the most influential aspects of their experiences.
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