Crucial events in pre-service primary teachers’ mathematical experience

Relationship with mathematics is a crucial variable in the professional development of pre-service primary teachers: it can largely affect pre-service teachers’ reactions to educational prompts and also their future didactical choices in classroom. Many researches showed that pre-service primary teachers have often developed a negative relationship with mathematics during their mathematical experience as students. This paper adopts a narrative methodology to investigate about the origins and development of these relationships. Specifically, it investigates how pre-service primary teachers tell the events that they recognize as crucial for the development of their relationship with mathematics. Results indicate the relevance of success/failure experiences, and the key-role of the teacher therein.