Primary pre-service teachers: reasoning and generalisation

Generalising tasks, in the context of mathematical reasoning, have featured in our work with primary pre-service teachers (PSTs). We used two particular problems - 'matchstick squares' and 'flower beds' - to explore the generalisation approaches taken by PSTs. In this paper, we analyse the ways in which one of them, Terry, uses recursive or functional approaches to generalisation, and how he attends to looking for a relationship and seeing sameness and difference between figures in a sequence. We consider what motivates shifts in attention, the significance of the PST's prior experience and of PST-collaboration in our teaching sessions. We conclude with a discussion about the significance of this activity in the PST’s preparation for teaching, with reference to Mason's (2010) notions of pro-spection and retro-spection.