An examination of some harmful information a young student may encounter if student is placed in a mathematics classroom with a teacher who has little or no content knowledge is discussed. Misconceptions in mathematical operations was studied greatly in the 50s’, 60’s, and 70’s. While educators seem to have moved their focus, we still need to be aware and able to guide students in a positive direction. Teachers absolutely must be able to teach in an academically appropriate way the students will learn math. Several examples of teacher’s lack of content knowledge can and will harm students academically are provided. These examples will support why we need a highly qualified in content knowledge and skilled educator in every math classroom. Teaching younger students has to be more than babysitting. Teachers with high
content knowledge in the discipline for these lower grades must be a priority for all.

Published in: Canada International Conference on Education, 2017

• Date of Conference: 26-29 June, 2017
• DOI: 10.2053/CICE.2017.0269
• Electronic ISBN: 978-1-908320-83-4
• Conference Location: University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada