Teacher education needs for improving mathematical thinking in children from 0–3 years of age

Exploring teacher education needs is essential to improve educational quality, especially in specific areas such as teaching mathematics in early childhood education. Different studies and highly recognized organizations endorse the importance of promoting the development of early mathematics and the need to have properly prepared teachers. Therefore, the objective of this exploratory study is to identify the training needs of early childhood education (0–3 years) teachers with regard to the teaching of mathematics. To do so, a mixed methodology has been used that combines quantitative and qualitative analysis. Data was collected through questionnaires, observation and discussion groups, with a sample of 28 teachers from the network of Municipal Nursery Schools of Vic (Barcelona). The results show a lack of teacher education in both mathematical and didactic knowledge to teach mathematics, highlighting the need to design teacher education programmes that are more in line with the realities of the classroom. This study concludes by highlighting the importance of improving the teacher education of teachers in nursery schools to cover the identified shortcomings, both in the discipline of study and in its teaching.