Student Teachers as Learners and Teachers: Praxeological Perspectives on Programming in Mathematics

This study investigates how master’s student teachers (MSTs) conceptualize and integrate programming and computational thinking within mathematics education. Grounded in the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic, and specifically its notion of praxeology, the study analyses 39 written reflections produced by MSTs who completed a compulsory programming-based mathematics task. The analysis identifies both mathematical and didactic praxeologies, revealing how MSTs’ engagement with programming reflects their development both as learners and as future teachers. The findings demonstrate that MSTs’ personal learning strategies, such as exploration, iteration, and productive struggle, closely parallel their envisioned classroom practices. The findings also show that many participants framed programming itself as the central learning object, highlighting a need to develop confidence and competence before applying programming as a tool for mathematical inquiry. The study argues that programming tasks provide a productive arena for bridging theory and practice in teacher education by fostering an interplay between praxis (know-how) and logos (know-why). Finally, the results indicate that MSTs require institutional support specifically aimed at developing basic programming fluency (e.g., handling syntax, debugging, and programming environments), so that computational thinking can be mobilized for mathematical exploration rather than being overshadowed by technical challenges.