Exploring Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge for Teaching: Self-Perception Versus Actual Performance

Teacher education programs aim to equip preservice teachers with professional knowledge required for effective teaching; however, measuring and evaluating teachers’ knowledge is not straightforward because of its complex and interrelated structure. In this study, we attempted to explore preservice elementary mathematics teachers’ perceived knowledge and their actual performance on a small-scale test to measure such knowledge. We collected data from 656 preservice elementary mathematics teachers from 10 universities in Türkiye. We found significant correlations between their perceptions and performances, including subcomponents of teacher knowledge. The preservice teachers considered themselves as possessing a high level of knowledge for teaching, specifically, they knew about appropriate and effective strategies for teaching mathematics. However, they performed at a moderate level in the test, such that their average scores for the items related to understanding students’ possible misunderstandings and difficulties, namely their knowledge of content and students, were higher than other subcomponents of teacher knowledge. Moreover, preservice teachers’ perceptions and performance varied by university, year in the program, academic achievement, and teaching experience. Specifically, senior (Year 4) preservice teachers and those from high-ranked universities performed better, while having experience in teaching led to variances in terms of self-perception rather than performance.