Comparison Research on Mathematical Knowledge for Prospective Teachers: Focus on Secondary Mathematics Teacher Selection Tests in Korea and China

Mathematical knowledge is one of the essential components for the degree of mathematics teachers’ professional development. The national employment test for teachers plays a crucial role to insure teachers’ quality. This paper compared the structure and items of secondary mathematics teacher selection tests in Korea and China in 2009-2019. An analysis of specific items was made to find the features and differences of mathematical knowledge standards for secondary teachers in two countries. According to the results, Korea paid more attention to teachers’ advanced knowledge while hardly concerning the secondary mathematical part nor the connection of two levels. In contrast, China used a large proportion to examine teachers’ capacity to deal with secondary mathematical problems of the student level and slightly involved the advanced mathematics in university level. From this comparison, this paper suggests evaluating in form of the connections between secondary and advanced mathematics for the teacher employment test, emphasizes the training courses for prospective teachers with a connective view on secondary and advanced mathematics.