“Why do we have to do this?” Primary trainee teachers’ views of a subject knowledge audit in mathematics

This paper examines theoretical and empirical evidence related to primary teachers' subject knowledge in mathematics and considers the relevance of an audit of higher-level subject knowledge to the subject knowledge required for teaching primary mathematics. Questionnaires and interviews were carried out to determine the views of generalist primary trainee teachers. Their views suggest that an audit of higher-level subject knowledge may be seen as relevant to the teaching of primary mathematics due to increased confidence levels. There is little evidence to suggest that the audit is supporting the trainee teachers in developing a connected view of mathematics that may be more indicative of an effective teacher.