Characteristics of decision-making by a pre-service teacher during teaching placements: insights from structured written reflections

The study objective was to characterize the decision-making of a pre-service primary teacher as articulated in post-teaching structured written reflections following instruction with students aged 11–12 years. The study adopted the “Teaching in Context” theoretical framework, which allowed for the joint consideration of the pre-service teacher's teaching goals, resources, and orientations across teaching decisions—both those reported as enacted in the classroom and those future-oriented. The data collection instrument was a reflective prompt with questions and suggestions to guide and structure writing reflection on mathematical teaching episodes in authentic classroom settings. Data consisted of three structured written reflections by the pre-service teacher upon completing each self-selected teaching episode. A qualitative and deductive analysis of the three written reflective accounts was conducted. Initially, excerpts related to the dimensions of the theoretical framework were identified. Subsequently, decisions were characterized by distinguishing between reported enacted decisions and future-oriented decisions. Finally, the characteristics of both types of teaching decision-making were compared. The results reveal a common pattern across both types of decision-making: addressing students’ errors and difficulties by utilising everyday situations as a learning resource. This approach is supported by the pre-service primary teacher's common mathematical content knowledge and his belief in the need to connect mathematics with real-life contexts, either to learn procedures or to comply with the guidelines of the Spanish primary curriculum. To conclude, the pre-service teacher's decisions-both those reported as enacted in the moment and those oriented toward the future-reveal consistent cross-cutting patterns: i) prioritising error correction and the application of rules; ii) relying on procedural knowledge; and iii) using context as a tool to facilitate learning. No differences were observed between enacted decisions made under contextual pressure and future-oriented decisions, highlighting robust orientations regarding mathematics teaching and learning that operate independently of the mathematical topic.