PREDICTORS OF CONCEPT FORMATION AND EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTUALIZATION COMPETENCIES IN GEOMETRY OF PRE-SERVICE MATHEMATICS TEACHERS

As an interdisciplinary and multicultural educational framework takes the centrality of the delivery of 21st-century education across all levels, this study attempts to address the competencies that prospective and neophyte teachers need to possess to effectively design contextualized education. Through stepwise multiple regression analysis, mathematical communication and mathematical reasoning skills were explored as potential predictors of both concept formation and educational contextualization abilities of 114 randomly selected pre-service mathematics teachers (PMTs) enrolled in their last term of teacher education training in eight Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) in Panay Island of Western Visayas, Philippines. Results placed the PMTs at the initial stage of developing proficiency in all these competencies, implying learning gaps and skills development deficiencies. Analysis revealed that mathematical communication significantly predicted the concept formation performance, while concept formation ability was likewise a significant predictor of educational contextualization competence. Findings entail that prospective mathematics teachers who demonstrate effective mathematical communication skills also embody profound sense-making and knowledge formation abilities, which in turn contribute to their capability in designing contextualized mathematics education. In enabling policies on curricular directions among TEIs, the study findings offer vantage perspectives towards integrative teaching approaches that curriculum planners and educators may introduce in teacher education training of PMTs. Keywords: mathematics education, integrative teaching, pre-service teacher education, contextualizing geometry education, mathematical communication, mathematical reasoning