Basic education, and by implication teacher education in Canada is a responsibility of the provinces and territories rather than of the federal government. In Alberta the teaching quality standard (Ministerial order #016/97) applies to all teachers for interim certification (IC) and permanent certification (PC). The standards include the knowledge, skills and attributes (KSAs) that must be demonstrated by newly graduated teachers (IC) and a teacher with professional experience (PC). There are 17 KSAs listed for interim certification and range from understanding the importance of respecting students’ human dignity and knowing how to build professional relationships with students to understanding the purposes of short, medium and long range planning and know how to translate curriculum into learning opportunities for students. In this paper we introduce Alberta Canada’s teaching quality standard for interim certification and examine it from the perspective of teacher agency (Beista & Tedder, 2006). In describing the expectations for teaching quality the Government of Alberta recognizes that “teaching practices will vary because each teaching situation is different and in constant change. Reasoned judgement must be used to determine whether the Teaching Quality Standard is being met in a given context.” [emphasis added] This explicit recognition of reasoned judgement assumes teacher agency. Through a survey of teacher educators we ask, in what ways does the teacher quality standard address the knowledge, skills and attributes a teacher needs for teaching mathematics in particular. Finally, we problematize how the structures of teacher education for secondary school teachers in Alberta (and in most of Canada) require pre-service teachers take university level mathematics content courses at the expense of studying deeply the mathematics for teaching (Proulx & Simmt, 2012, Davis & Simmt, 2006). We conclude with a discussion of how developing a teacher’s mathematics for her teaching practice (Simmt, 2011) has potential for enhancing teacher agency.

Davis, B. & E. Simmt. (2006). Mathematics-for-teaching: An ongoing investigation of the mathematics that teachers (need to) know. Educational Studies in Mathematics 61(3), pp. 293-319. Proulx, J. and Simmt, E. (2011). Using research to question hegemonic structures in teacher education. In T. Falkenberg and H. Smits (Eds.) The Question of Evidence in Research in Teacher Education in the Context of Teacher Education Program Review in Canada (pp. 215 -230), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB. http://www.umanitoba.ca/education/TEResearch/Book%202010%20(Volume%202).pdf Simmt, E. (2011) Teacher Expertise Explored as Mathematics for Teaching. Y. Li, G. Kaiser (eds.), Expertise in Mathematics Instruction: An International Perspective, pp. 151-165. Springer.