Abstract

This study explores the introduction of investigative approaches to preservice mathematics teachers in countries where traditional exercise-oriented teaching remains dominant despite ongoing educational reforms promoting student-centered, competency-based learning. The Albanian mathematics education is taken as a case study representative of many other countries coming from highly structured teacher-centered mathematics education systems to more progressive models, where this implementation gap persists, and where curriculum changes are not always accompanied by attention to the local situations. The purpose of the study is to examine the characteristics of critical mathematical competence exhibited by preservice teachers when they engage in investigative activities and to identify the possibilities and barriers they perceive. A qualitative case study was conducted at an Albanian university with students of the master’s program in mathematics teacher education. The intervention included pattern investigations, mathematical modelling tasks, and an open-ended investigative task on food security. Data consisted of written reflections, group work recordings, written assignments, and interviews. The results show that participants exhibited mathematical, technological, and, to some extent, reflective knowing. They used mathematics to explore real-world problems about food security, evaluated data sources, and reflected on their validity. At the same time, they faced several barriers, including traditional orientations about mathematics teaching and lack of experience with investigative approaches, uncertainty when working with open-ended tasks, concerns about the reliability of data sources, and time constraints. Participants also identified important possibilities, such as student engagement, collaboration, critical thinking, and stronger connections between mathematics and real-life contexts. The study highlights both the potential and the complexity of integrating investigative approaches into mathematics teacher education in Albania, but also to other countries undergoing similar curricular reforms.

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