Teacher education around the world. Educating primary school mathematics teachers in the Netherlands: Back to the classroom

Key words: primary mathematics teacher education; realistic mathematics education; Multimedial Interactive Learning Environment (MILE); theory and practice; reflection. Abstract This article decribes the history of primary mathematics teacher education in the Netherlands and also perspectives. A recent model for PMTE (1998) is presented. The MILE project fits very well with this model. But the viability of MILE's digital representation of school practice still required an entirely different way of looking at things for the teacher educator. With MILE we are 'back in the classroom', and this means that a student teacher’s own classroom observations form a starting point for analysis, reflection, and discussion and also form the basis for his/her own questions about teaching. The impetus for learning to teach is, therefore, initiated outside MILE. But MILE provides an enriched orientation and provides direction to the subsequent analyses of teaching. Moreover, the student teacher can, if it helps, use theory as a vehicle for further exploring the possibilities of using MILE. It should be emphasized that MILE has brought theory and practice closer together to an unprecedented extent. As the millennium approaches, back to the classroom, will have major consequences for how student teachers are taught to teach.