Second-career mathematics teachers' knowledge of mathematical connections

For quite some time, second-career teachers have been recruited into the education system due to shortages of teachers in particular geographic areas (e.g., urban schools) and within particular content areas (e.g., science and mathematics) (Cornett, 1986; McCree, 1993; Stoddart & Floden, 1995). Now, between "33% and 48% of those entering teaching today come from another line of work rather than straight from college" (Johnson & Kardos, 2005, p. 11). The knowledge base necessary to prepare and maintain second-career teachers is still developing, and particularly with respect to investigating content specific knowledge brought to the classroom by these teachers.;This study investigated the ways in which second-career mathematics teachers exhibit and discuss their knowledge of mathematical connections. Data was collected in two stages. The first stage was through a questionnaire that provided opportunities for 12 second-career mathematics teachers to exhibit evidence of mathematical connections among mathematical ideas and to contexts outside of mathematics. The second phase of data collection was an interview with four of them here second-career mathematics teachers that exhibited knowledge of mathematical connections and focused on their perception of the source of this knowledge and its use in their teaching.;The results of the data analysis indicated that the majority of the second-career mathematics teachers in the study exhibited knowledge of mathematical connections. Within the constraints of this study, the second-career teachers were most likely to exhibit this knowledge of mathematical connections when creating a mathematics problem from a given topic and when making a mathematical connection to a context outside of mathematics. The data analysis also indicated that those second-career teachers that exhibited knowledge of mathematical connections were hesitant to use this knowledge in their teaching for reasons including their own perception of students' ability. The implications of these findings inform future preparation and recruitment of second-career mathematics teachers, as well as future studies on teachers' knowledge of mathematical connections.