MTED Editorial: Celebrating ways forward and recognising dilemmas

Welcome to Issue One of 2021, a year that continues to challenge us in our lives, as well in our teaching and research, as we continue to manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We realise that countries around the globe are coping with continued disruptions to teaching both in schools and in teacher education in many ways. It is during this time that questions abound regarding mathematics teacher education, and we have learnt much from the innovations that many of us were asked to engage in rapidly. We have continued to find solutions to didactic problems as well as raise provocations.

There are seven articles in this issue, many of which were first submitted for review prior to the pandemic taking hold. Nevertheless, these articles illustrate how research not only highlights ways forwards, but reveals dilemmas about mathematics teacher education from early years to primary and secondary mathematics. All the articles in this issue refer, in their own way, to research that challenges traditional models of teaching often associated with teacher centred instruction and the practice of multiple examples with limited student interaction. The articles use a variety of research methodologies and present findings that indicate the potential of new strategies to move preservice and in-service teachers forwards in developing and honing effective teaching practices. They also provoke questions and indicate further areas for research.