Teacher knowledge is a critical topic for teaching, learning and culture. The process of teaching and learning is a decisive aspect to shape culture.  Therefore, to be focused on components of this process such as teacher knowledge is relevant for the educational field. Around the world, there is interest in researching teacher preparation programs to provide educational policy makers relevant information such as which types of teacher knowledge have a stronger impact on student learning (Tchoshanov, 2011). Several international studies focus on teacher preparation in countries such as Russia, USA, Singapore, Finland, etc. (e.g. TEDS-M Study, 2012).  However, Mexico is transitioning to new standards to evaluate teachers at the elementary and middle school. Recently, an educational reform was established in Mexico last year. This reform created an institution to assess the teacher’s knowledge of the aspects involved in their teaching such as content, curriculum, teaching practices, educational policies, among others. Therefore, it is critical to research about teacher knowledge in Mexico to help to this transition will be accepted and adopted sooner.  

Since the knowledge possessed by teachers has an impact on students’ learning, it is an educational issue worthy of study. Additionally, to know what kinds of knowledge have a direct influence on teaching practices could be used to enhance teacher education programs and teaching practices. This study aimed to provide insights that will provide awareness to teacher education programs and policy makers to make important decisions in regards of what teachers need to know for teaching mathematics in an effective manner.

The intent of this study was to measure middle school mathematical teachers’ content knowledge and its relationship with teachers’ “knowing-to act” ability.  In addition, conducting research in Mexico will allow for comparison studies with other countries, such as the United States or Russia, where studies of teacher content knowledge have been conducted (e.g. Tchoshanov, 2011).

This paper analyzed the mathematical teacher content knowledge and teachers’ “knowing-to act” (Mason and Spence, 1999) possessed by Mexican in-service teachers. This research drew on the Shulman’s teacher knowledge model (Shulman, 1986 &1987).  He defined content knowledge as “the amount of organization of knowledge per se in the mind of the teacher” (Shulman, 1986, p.9). This category of knowledge includes knowledge of facts, connections, models, generalizations and how the understanding of this content knowledge is structured and generated. This research examined the three different cognitive types of mathematical teacher content knowledge: cognitive type 1 (which refers to the teacher content knowledge of facts and procedure); cognitive type 2 (the knowledge of concepts and connections); and cognitive type 3 (knowledge of models and generalizations).

The second type of knowledge that was studied is “knowing-to act”. “Knowing-to act” is the process in which “knowledge [that] enables people to act creatively rather than merely react to stimuli with trained or habituated behavior” (Mason and Spence, 1999, p.136). The following questions guided the research:

1. To what extent the cognitive type of middle school teachers’ knowledge is associated with teachers’ knowing-to act?

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