




































American International Journal of Education and Linguistics Research 

Vol. 4, No. 2; 2021 

ISSN 2641-7987   E-ISSN 2641-7995 

Published by American Center of Science and Education, USA 

 

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TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS IN PAKTIKA TEACHERS’ 

TRAINING CENTER: THE PERSPECTIVES OF TEACHERS 

AND STUDENTS TOWARDS THE USE OF VARIOUS 

METHODOLOGIES IN THEIR CLASSROOMS 
 

 

Abdul Rahim Rahimi 

Lecturer 

Paktika Teachers’ Training Centre, Paktika, Afghanistan 

E-mail: ab.rahimi786@gmail.com 

 

Dr. Meera Chandran 

Professor 

Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India 

E-mail: meera.chandran@tiss.edu 

 

Sayed Abbas Hashimi 

Lecturer 

Department of Psychology 

Faculty of Education 

Kandahar University, Afghanistan 

E-mail: kbforr@yahoo.com 

 

Rahmatullah Katawazai 

Lecturer 

English Department 

Faculty of Languages and Literature 

Kandahar University, Afghanistan 

E-mail: rahmat.katawazai@yahoo.com 

 

ABSTRACT 

Choosing the best pedagogies and methods for students has become a focal issue in education. 

Hence, teachers need to evaluate and improve various skills. Therefore, this study was set up to 

investigate the teachers teaching methods they use during their teaching. The researchers have 

selected this Hence, teachers need to evaluate and improve various skills. Therefore, this study 

was set up to investigate the teachers teaching methods they use during their teaching. The 

researchers have selected this topic because to find out the types of teaching methods and to 

evaluate that how teachers use the subject and pedagogical knowledge. Currently, there are 

three Teacher Training Colleges in Paktika province, and the current study is conducted in 

Zarghun Shahr. The important thing is that how often they use the teaching method theories 

which they have learned, also at which level they understand their students to be able to identify 

students and their differences and learning styles. In this study, two mathematics teachers were 

observed during their teaching.  Which were quite important for the current study to observe 

which methods do teachers use while they teach. The researchers also interviewed both the 



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students who were in those classes and their teachers. The data have been collected by using 

observation and interview tools. And the unit of this research is teacher educators and students 

of teacher training colleges. This study will help all teachers (lecturers, teacher educators, and 

primary and secondary school teachers), to adapt useful methodologies in their classrooms. 

 

Keywords: Teaching, Mathematics, Methodologies, Teaching Training Centre, Paktika, 

Afghanistan. 

 

JEL Classification Codes: A19, B10, B25, C10, C53. 

 

INTRODUCTION 

Education is and always will be very important in building a strong foundation in the life of 

human beings. This is especially true in terms of looking at our future generation. Education is a 

strong building block in building a strong and healthier importance Effective Teaching to our 

youth today, it can help the students to achieve the best results they can at school and in their 

long-term life.  

 Effective teaching requires considerable skills in managing the tasks and situations that 

occur in the classroom each day. Skills such as effective classroom management are central to 

teaching and require "common sense". Most people would agree that good teachers are caring, 

supportive, concerned about the welfare of students, knowledgeable about their subject matter, 

able to get along with patients, and so on good qualities. It is just the successful transference of 

knowledge and skills or application around a particular topic.  

 Whenever students are graduating from Teacher Training Colleges or universities, they 

learn many things theoretically according to teaching, while, on the other hand, practically they 

do not know many things to teach or to use on time and in their place. If teachers want to teach 

very well or to try to teach according to the rules of education, they may face different kinds of 

difficulties and limitations at the beginning. For example; to learn driving of a bicycle; firstly it 

needs good thinking. Secondly, the rider has to be motivated for doing this kind of work. 

Thirdly, the rider has to do practice with the help of someone and at this time he/she must have 

the self-confidence to do so. After that, the rider may drive it more practically so at this time 

learning will take place, now still one cannot say that he/she has learned driving bicycle 

completely, because they may create some new thinking in our mind like how to save ourselves 

from the dangerous moments? How to cross from someone else? These all can improve our 

knowledge of driving a bicycle. Moreover, if one claims that after graduation there are no 

difficulties in teaching, it is completely wrong, because it is right that one has learned many 

things theoretically, while practically it needs a new experience of teaching to manage classroom 

teaching. 

 For this reason, this study has investigated the teaching methodology in Paktika Province 

in Teacher Training College (TTC), in the math subject which teacher educators use to their 

students. The important thing is that how much they use the teaching method theories which they 

have learned, and these teachers are applying these techniques in their schools, how much they 

follow the pedagogical aspects. What are their problems and why they cannot learn very well and 

how they can solve their problems? The data have been collected by using two instruments’ 

namely, observation and interviews. At first, the researchers have observed both classes five or 

six times, then interviewed the TTC teachers and students to have their views as well. 

 



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LITERATURE REVIEW 

The teacher should know the basic rules and techniques of education and training. He/she should 

have enough knowledge related to his/her subject. Also, the teacher should know why some 

students can learn but some cannot learn very well, for what they learn. Furthermore, it is 

important to know that how to teach, how to control the class, why it is important to use different 

methods, and which techniques are required for effective learning. 

The word method has been taken from Latin “Method us" which means rules, techniques, 

and the ways of solution for a problem. So, we can define it as Teaching methods that are fixed 

and orientated ways in education and training that can reach the teachers and students to their 

goal immediately (Aimal, 2012). 

Using different methodologies is good for the students to be flexible mathematical 

thinkers and can motivate students to work for solving problems. 

Progress in mathematics depends very much on the ability to see such underlying patterns, and 

this ability grows with the maturing child and can be encouraged by careful teaching and useful 

methods (Wadhwa, 2006). 

All the time, whenever someone wants to teach mathematics, it takes time to make 

understand the young students. Most of the time, effective teaching can be taught by professional 

teachers by using different methods and contexts. If a teacher who wants to teach math 

effectively should have two goals as he/she must help students to learn skills of solving problems 

and they should master critical thinking skills as well (Halimi, 2013). The best way to teach 

mathematics is to clearly show the procedures (methods) to solve the mathematics problems. 

Also, the best way to teach mathematics is to show students how to solve some example 

problems (Kumar, 2013). 

Whenever we want to teach, we might be dis-motivated, we might not control ourselves 

and we might not control our class and teach very well, for solving these kinds of problems we 

need the practice to do more practice, to have a good plan for our teaching and managing the 

time of class and teaching, also to take suggestions of expert people who are much experienced 

in teaching, can give us good confidence for teaching and to teach without any problem (Azimi, 

2017). 

Science cannot be used in society without a body of men and women who have been 

specially trained for science-based vocations in industry, research, and teaching. A vocational 

justification is, therefore, possible for science teaching (Jaya, 2004). 

One of the most powerful pedagogical moves a teacher can take is that supports making detail 

explicit in mathematics, in both explanations given and questions asked (Franke et al., 2007). 

In Afghanistan, teachers want to know about new methods, user experiences, and the 

types of rules which can improve teaching and make it a success. Teachers must find the 

individual difference between students according to their ability; understand their specific needs 

in the learning process, respect individual differences of students, this is quite important to 

answer the questions in a different style and understanding the main parts of the curriculum and 

usage of that in its place. In students' life, the important elements are not a book, class, and 

passing from one class to another, while the important element is the teacher for the students 

because this is the teacher who can give self-confidence to each student and can open different 

kinds of success in their life. Some expert and professional teachers can make the condition of 

class very well for learning. So teachers must know the rules and different methods of teaching, 

to teach with the importance of that subject and those subjects he/she wants to teach it must be 

based on the expertise level of him/her. 



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According to Vij (2016), "schools are about teaching and learning; all other activities are 

secondary to these basic goals. But teaching and learning in the contexts just described can be 

challenging for both teachers and students". They raised one question that 'what is good 

teaching?' They claim that good teaching is not confined to classrooms; it occurs in homes and 

hospitals, museums and sales meetings, offices, and in many more places we can learn from each 

other's behavior. They state that good teaching will occur when teachers are both knowledgeable 

and innovative, they must be able to use different strategies and must be capable of utilizing new 

strategies, they must have some basic research on managing the class, they should have a 

framework for their teaching and classwork and they must know the ways of students' 

development. 

The first framework for teaching was published by Danielson, in the year (1996) and has 

been revised three times since then, the latest in 2013. Danielson's Framework has four areas of 

responsibility: 'Planning and Preparation, Classroom Environment, Instruction, and Professional 

Responsibilities (Vij, 2016). 

Within teaching, it is also important to use teaching materials, have a teaching plan, and making 

discipline in class as well as in school. Teaching and teaching materials should be prepared for 

that to reach students and teachers to their goal, which improves the students and learning 

positively (Aimal, 2012). 

According to Husaini (2016), teaching method and pedagogy can be used differently by 

different stages in different times to be successful and reach our aim and it is stated that 

pedagogy is the way that content is delivered, including the use of different methodologies that 

help different levels of learners to engage in educational contents and learn much more 

effectively, recognizing that individuals learn in different ways. 

While discussing the method, it can enable students to reflect upon concepts through interactions 

with others engaged in the same activity as well as allow students to be familiar with certain 

ways of describing mathematics, also can provide students opportunities to be able to have 

enough knowledge (Kosko & Wilkins, 2010). 

Moreover, it should be cleared that applied examples are important in improving one's 

conceptual understanding, the teacher needs to integrate the fundamental ideas of mathematics 

with the combination of "real-world applications” (Muwahid, 2009). 

Good methodologies are available for improving pedagogy; however, they have been applied 

systematically. To better understand how to deliver the curriculum most effectively, teachers 

must learn how to teach, how to engage the student in the classroom activities. In Afghanistan, 

teaching mathematics and science have many problems. The main problem is that we do not have 

professional teachers to teach integrating different skills and pedagogies which are more 

important for teaching especially in math and science subjects. Also, the teacher needs to know 

that how to apply these subjects in other fields, because most of the time students ask for the 

application of it, so it is important for the teacher to know all aspects of the teaching of these 

subjects. 

 

Main Question 

What are the pedagogies used by teacher educators for teaching Math and Science in TTC? 

Sub-questions 

What kinds of methods the teacher educators implement in their teaching? 



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What is the teacher educators’ understanding of students’ learning? 

 

METHOD 

Research Design 

The pilot study is a small-scale research project which involves the use of qualitative methods to 

collect data from TTC students and teacher educators. This research was conducted in the period 

2019-2020, which had different phases, classroom observation of mathematic classes, and 

interviews with math teachers. I have also interviewed 8 math class students. The observations 

and interviews were conducted for about two months, then the remaining time researcher started 

converting the data from the local language to the English language. Therefore, the researchers 

have taken each teacher's views, based on the observation of these two teachers and also 

interviewed them two. When it comes to the students, they were selected randomly. After that, 

the views of only 3 students were included as a sample from each class, because most of their 

views were the same. Moreover, teachers’ ages were between 30-40 years old and students' ages 

were between 20-30 years old. 

 

Site and Participants 

The location of the study is Paktika province, a teachers' training center which is in Paktika 

Province, in Zarghun Shahr district, to observe the teaching methodology, also to interview the 

students of TTC as well as with the teacher educators of TTC to interview them related to the 

teaching methodology. In this TTC there are only in-service students who come for learning, 

different classes are there like mathematics, science, Islamic, English literature, Pashto literature, 

and many more. In these classes, the number of in-service students is about 100-120. All teacher 

educators are holding bachelor's degrees from different universities and have 4-8 years of 

experience teaching in TTC, also some of them have experience in school teaching. 

 

Limitation 

Since there may be some objections in the educational process by some people that are part of 

the sample of this research and they refrain to share their viewpoint, but researchers tried to 

design some research tools to make the identity of participants confidential and to make them 

confident about their identity. A major problem all over Afghanistan is not assisting researchers 

to collect their research as people do not help such activities which do not have monetary 

rewards. The second problem was the time limitation for collecting the data and working on that. 

 

Data Collection Process  

Actually, in TTCs there are two types of student’s pre-service students and in-service students. 

For those TTCs which have pre-service students, most of the time they are taught in the morning 

time while in-service students come, or we teach them a second time because for the first time 

they are already teachers and teach at schools. So, this observation and research are about in-

service students. In this process, researchers have selected one TTC in Paktika province, named 

Zarghoon Shahr TTC. I have interviewed and observed teachers and their classrooms for the data 

collection. Furthermore, researchers have completed the observations in four weeks. After that, 

researchers interviewed teachers and students. Each interview took approximately one hour.  

Taking interviews took much time because participants were busy with their classes and it took 

almost one month. So, it took almost one month for collecting the data. 

 



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Data Analysis 

Firstly, researchers have analyzed the observation of math classes in 6 different periods, then 

interviewed the math teachers, and after that, the math students were interviewed.  

The following is the table of teacher and students' activities that were observed during the 

six periods in math class. A math teacher has a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Moreover, he 

has six years of experience in teaching the current subject in TTC. Also, 25 students were in this 

class and it was their second year in TTC. There is only one math class when these students 

finish this course of two years, then other students take this class, all classes are going on in this 

pattern. So, the researcher observed one teacher teaching the same subject six times, three 

periods in one week and three periods in the next week. 

 

RESULTS 

The researchers observed and interviewed the math teacher who has a bachelor's degree in mathematics. 

Moreover, he has six years of experience teaching the current subject in TTC.  

 

No Question Math Teacher Response  Remarks  

1 What kind of 

teaching 

approach do 

you use? 

I use the lecture method, discussion 

method, group method, and Q & A method, 

for their activeness as well as motivating 

them. 

Here, if we look at the teacher 

educators' views the focus is on 

students' motivation. Math 

subject may require much more 

practical work to solve the 

question, so for more practical 

work, it is needed to make 

students active. 

2 Which method 

you prefer 

more to work 

on and why? 

I prefer the group and discussion methods 

because here students engage in practical 

work, they feel free for achieving the goal, 

they learn from each other, they are get 

encouraged, they learn how to 

communicate, each of them takes part in all 

activities, they learn authentic learning, it 

motivates the students for further learning. 

Students' do not learn only from books or 

teacher, while can learn from each other or 

classmates as well. Furthermore, it is also 

important to take students to the computer 

lab to show them foreign countries 

teaching related to that specific lesson, for 

their understanding and to know that what 

we read here, these all can be taught in all 

countries and the same things they learn so 

it shows the importance of that subject to 

the students. 

The teacher is emphasizing 

students' communication and 

students can learn from each 

other. Learning is not only related 

to the books and chapters. That's 

why the teacher may give much 

time to the group working and 

discussion. He also said that all 

students are not equal; there are 

individual differences among the 

students, so it is important to use 

different methods. This teacher 

may think that by using this way 

students may pay more attention 

to this subject and they may learn 

very well because the same thing 

can be taught in different 

countries.  

3 Which kind of 

reinforcement 

Most of the time I use a reward for the 

students because I have experience from 

This teacher wanted to follow the 

reward for his students. He gives 



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do you use? my own student life, which I have learned 

by reward those things are still in my mind, 

so that’s why I use reward in my teaching. 

more importance to his 

experience and it may have given 

good results to his teaching that's 

why he follows only the reward.  

4 Do you 

consider 

gender issues 

in your class? 

We have only male students here in TTC. 

However, when it comes to gender, so we 

should be accurate in these issues because 

people are a bit sensitive towards girls' 

schooling and education.  

Gender issue was challengeable 

for this teacher because of 

cultural sensitivity and the lack of 

girls schools, so when there is no 

girls school, how we may have 

girls in TTCs. 

5 Have you ever 

faced that kind 

of question that 

you could not 

solve that? 

When it comes to problem-solving; 

commonly my students have problems in 

some basic mathematical structures and 

formulas. Sometimes when I use one thing 

without process, they directly ask that 

where it came from. In this case, I give the 

current question to the students if someone 

knows or can solve it, then if they cannot 

do it, I solve it or give the direction of 

solving, also sometimes I give it to them to 

find it from books. Sometimes, I also 

cannot solve that problem then search it on 

the internet, in books, or from my expert 

teachers. 

The math teacher used to facing 

problems with the students and 

trying to solve their problems by 

engaging the students also he is 

trying to solve. He may think that 

the first chance should be given to 

the students to find out the result 

and students may learn struggling 

and finding the answer.   

6 Why many 

students afraid 

of math and 

science 

subjects? 

Student's fear will finish if the teacher 

teaches conceptually then procedurally, 

give connection to the real-life that how we 

can use it in our daily life, what is the 

benefit of it and how we can use it. We are 

not that much advanced in mathematics, to 

remove this belief that I cannot learn, but 

only that particular student can learn, so the 

teacher should make students believe that I 

can learn too and I have this ability to 

learn, also to make their mindset that it is 

for me and if that person can learn, so I 

also can learn and I have to learn.   

For him it is important that to 

give the connection to real life, 

teach them conceptually. All the 

time students ask their teachers 

that "how we can use it in our 

lives and what is the importance 

of this in our daily life" like these 

kinds of questions they urge. It 

means they want conceptual 

learning. So the teacher may also 

spotlight the real use of 

mathematics in their real life.  

 

The following table shows the responses of the math teacher about his subject 

 

No Question Strongly 

agree 

Agree Disagree Strongly 

disagree 

1 Practical work of a subject is 

the base of learning and can 

take place in mind; 

     

2 Teaching and learning by      



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the new and modern method 

are very important; 

3 The methods which you 

apply here in TTC, are they 

all applicable in schools? 

     

4 Are these all facilities 

available at all schools? 

     

5 Satisfaction of students are 

important in class like in 

subject, lecture, homework; 

     

 
Interview with the Math students 

In this section, eight math students were interviewed. However, the views of only 3 students 

have been selected as a sample and because the data were already saturated. Randomly these 8 

students are selected from twenty-five students (25). The interview process took four days, two 

students per day were interviewed and this interview took place in their part-time class because 

they were familiar with this class environment, in the place where they feel free or comfortable 

they may tell the fact. During this interview, their speeches were recorded instead of writing it, 

because writing the answers takes much more time or sometimes the researcher may miss some 

important facts and valuable opinions. Moreover, the interview was in their native language 

(Pashto), then researchers translated it into English. 

 

No Question Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Remarks 

1 Can you 

define the 

teaching 

method?  

The teaching 

method is a 

way by which 

teachers and 

students both 

can reach their 

goal quickly.  

The teaching 

method is a 

technique and 

logical ways 

by which 

teachers can 

make students 

understand.  

The teaching 

method is a 

logical way by 

which teachers 

can make their 

students close to 

the goal, for that 

we can say 

learning. And the 

teacher looks at 

the situation then 

selects the 

method.     

It means using 

methods in 

teaching are the 

source by which 

teachers and 

students can 

reach the goal 

immediately. 

 

2 When your 

teacher 

teaches you 

do you 

understand 

which 

method, 

he/she use? 

Not 

completely 

because most 

of the time he 

mixes different 

methods. 

Nonetheless, in 

some cases, we 

understand 

Yes, we can 

understand 

which method 

is used or 

take benefits 

from that. 

Commonly, 

our math 

teacher uses 

We understand 

during the lecture 

that this method 

he selected for us 

to make us 

understood, like 

when someone 

asks the question, 

most of the time 

I think it would 

be good that 

students 

understand the 

methods because 

they might also 

take benefits 

from them during 

their teaching. 



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which method 

is used.  

the discussion 

method to 

engage us in 

solving the 

problems.     

at first he allows 

students to 

respond and 

solve the 

question.  

3 it is 

important to 

use different 

methods? 

It is important 

to use different 

methods in 

teaching 

because some 

students 

understand the 

group method, 

discussion 

method, or 

sometimes if 

there is no 

time, it is 

important to 

use the lecture 

method.     

Using 

different 

methods is a 

part of the 

curriculum 

and it is the 

responsibility 

of each 

teacher to use 

different 

methods. 

Experienced 

teachers 

know better 

how to use 

different 

methods.  

It is better to use 

different methods 

in teaching 

because all 

students cannot 

Why understand 

in one method 

some students 

can learn from 

one and some can 

learn from 

another method. 

We assess 

students that 

which method is 

beneficial for 

them. 

Individual 

differences are 

there among the 

students. It might 

be better for the 

teacher to know 

the individual 

differences, then 

he may select the 

method very 

easily and 

students may 

understand easily. 

4 What do you 

think in TTC 

textbooks or 

chapters the 

problem 

solving is 

well 

structured or 

not? 

In many cases, 

it is well-

structured. The 

problems are 

just given for 

solving 

without 

direction, for 

those we try to 

use different 

ways and 

methods to 

find out the 

result or 

correct answer 

for that. For 

this kind of 

problem at 

first, the 

teacher gives 

us time to 

work in groups 

or discussions, 

after that if we 

In TTC 

textbooks the 

problems are 

weakly 

structured. 

Many 

questions we 

have here in 

the textbook, 

they just gave 

the questions 

without 

direction, 

especially in 

exercise those 

questions 

which we 

cannot solve, 

so we leave 

for the 

teacher to 

solve it, when 

the teacher 

solve it, the 

At first, here we 

have dictation 

problems in 

textbooks which 

make us disturb. 

Second, there are 

typing mistakes 

like they have 

changed the sign 

of (+) to (-), so 

our answer and 

teacher answers 

are completely 

different, and it 

makes us 

confused.  

Here I think some 

time teacher 

might not prepare 

himself for the 

class, that's why 

students' answer 

is different 

because if he has 

checked the book 

before coming to 

the class, he 

might say that 

this sign you can 

change to (+) or 

(-) or this is a 

mistake you can 

correct it, it 

means 

preparation is 

more important 

for the teacher 

when he/she 

comes to the 

class.  



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could not or it 

is difficult to 

solve it, then 

the teacher is 

trying to solve 

it and give the 

direction for 

that.     

way is 

completely 

different.  

5 Which 

method do 

you prefer in 

the class and 

why? 

I like the group 

working 

method. At 

first, the 

teacher gives 

us a question 

to work on 

individually, 

then work in a 

group, because 

it eliminates 

the pressure 

and we learn 

from each 

other as well.     

I love the 

discussion 

method to 

talk about 

issues and to 

find out the 

result of some 

problems. 

Because I 

have well 

confidence to 

talk in front 

of the class or 

front of 

people. So 

through this 

method, I can 

learn very 

well.     

I like group 

methods and 

discussion 

methods to be 

utilized in class. 

Most of the time 

we learn from 

other views, also 

here we feel free 

and without 

pressure, the 

pressure can be 

divided by all 

groups. 

Moreover, one 

mind can think 

one thing while 

four or five 

minds can think 

differently and 

may find an easy 

way to solve a 

problem as well 

can use different 

ways for the 

finding of the 

result.   

They may learn 

very well in 

group working 

and may have 

seen the benefits 

from these 

methods. Or they 

may not feel 

themselves safely 

in working 

individually and 

they might afraid 

of the wrong 

answers, they do 

not want to be 

threatened in 

front of 

classmates.       

6 Are you 

applying 

these 

methods in 

your classes 

and which 

method you 

prefer more? 

I am looking at 

the classroom 

conditions as 

well as the 

textbook after 

that I select a 

method that is 

useful for 

students. 

While 

commonly I 

Most of the 

time, I use the 

lecture 

method and 

discussion 

method, 

because I 

teach to the 

eighth and 

ninth-grade 

students, so 

I prefer the 

lecture method in 

my classes at 

school because 

students are more 

than 40, so it is 

difficult to use 

group work or 

discussion. Also, 

they are too 

noisy; it is 

The condition of 

TTC is a little bit 

different from the 

school because 

TTC students are 

not that number 

in classes, also 

the materials 

which are 

available here in 

TTC that much 



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focus on 

student-

centered 

learning and 

working on 

students.     

they can 

understand 

and can share 

their views 

also respect 

each other's 

views. 

difficult to 

control them.   

they might not 

have, so it might 

be a little bit 

difficult for them 

to apply all the 

methods over 

there.  

7 Why many 

students 

afraid of 

mathematics? 

Because 

students do not 

follow the 

daily lectures 

and do not 

practice 

examples. 

Moreover, they 

do not connect 

previous 

lessons to the 

new lesson. 

The teacher 

only focuses 

on solving 

questions; 

does not do 

practical 

work which is 

more 

important for 

the students. 

Most of the 

time students 

learn through 

practical 

activities like 

our teacher 

gave us a 

question to 

estimate the 

classroom 

and find the 

center of the 

class, then he 

showed 

different 

kinds of 

pictures on 

projector and 

the foreign 

countries 

lectures for 

our more 

understanding 

and make 

acknowledge 

that in foreign 

countries also 

the same 

thing can be 

There is no 

Practical work 

for the math 

subject that’s 

why students 

cannot 

understand well, 

they learn 

theoretically 

which they forget 

soon. Lack of 

methods that 

teachers cannot 

use the method 

on time and 

logically 

applying of math 

to give 

connection with 

life. 

The teacher does 

not know the 

pedagogical 

content of 

knowledge for 

the students.  

 

They might give 

more importance 

to conceptual 

learning in place 

of procedural 

learning. They 

might think that 

this is how 

students learn by 

heart. Also, PCK 

(Pedagogical 

Content 

Knowledge) is 

important for the 

teacher like we 

can say that; 

Teacher 

knowledge 

Teaching 

Students learning. 



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12 

 

taught.     

8 Have you 

ever faced 

that kind of 

question 

from students 

which made 

you 

confused? 

Yes, many 

times students 

ask different 

kinds of 

questions. 

Those 

questions 

which I can 

solve I make 

students 

engaged to 

solve if they 

could not, then 

I give the 

direction. 

However, 

those questions 

which I cannot 

do it I tell them 

that I will 

bring them 

tomorrow. I 

search it in 

different books 

also ask the 

expert teachers 

to give the 

correct answer.  

Sure, many 

times we face 

different 

kinds of 

questions. 

When I face 

that kind of 

question 

which I 

cannot, I 

search in 

different 

books to find 

out the 

solution and 

then search 

the internet. 

For example; 

once one 

student asks 

me in the 

class that 

“every 

number at the 

exponent of 

zero is equal 

with one 

(a
0
=1), so 

zero at the 

exponent of 

zero is equal 

to what 

(0
0
=?)" it was 

a completely 

new question 

to me. I 

searched it on 

the internet 

and found the 

solution.     

Yes, sometimes 

we face different 

questions that 

students ask. In 

this case, I give it 

to the students to 

search the 

solution because 

it makes students 

active and 

creative, also 

which things they 

searched, they 

will never forget.   

They face 

problems when 

they teach at their 

schools, some of 

them first give to 

the students to 

engage them in, 

and then give the 

direction to solve 

it. If the teacher 

also could not at 

that time, so they 

search in books 

also on the 

internet. While 

the third student 

was more 

focusing on 

students working 

to engage them in 

question because 

when they 

engaged in and 

found the answer, 

they will never 

forget it. 

9 Do you 

consider 

cultural 

norms in 

your 

We must focus 

on and respect 

cultural and 

religious 

issues. 

Yes, we focus 

on cultural 

issues. We 

are a part of 

this society; 

Sure, I give 

attention to 

cultural issues 

because our 

society is 

They all are more 

focusing and 

respecting the 

culture and 

religion. I asked 



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13 

 

teaching? Because this is 

the society 

where people 

respect and 

give much 

attention to the 

culture, as well 

as reject the 

things which 

are against 

religion and 

culture. We 

had one 

teacher in our 

school, who 

was not giving 

attention to 

these things, 

people made 

him leave this 

school and he 

finally moved 

to another one. 

we should 

follow the 

rules of our 

society.     

religious and 

cultural. People 

respect these 

things, so we 

must focus on 

these things 

during our 

lectures. For 

instance; to wear 

the clothes which 

are the custom of 

this society, 

giving the 

examples in a 

lecture which are 

more famous 

here, and 

showing them 

things on the 

projector which 

are not against of 

this society.     

them that "here 

you saw the thing 

which was 

against your 

culture?" they 

told me that "the 

videos of foreign 

countries  which 

teacher shows us, 

lady teacher 

clothes were 

informal and it 

was against our 

culture, we 

cannot show 

these kinds of 

videos to our 

young students." 

They may think if 

someone does not 

follow society's 

rules he/she 

might be rejected 

from the job.      

10 How you 

found the 

center of that 

computer lab 

when the 

teacher asked 

that "who 

can find the 

center of this 

room or 

center of this 

carpet" and 

you found it 

without 

measuring? 

 The second 

student told 

me that 

"before 

asking the 

teacher I 

thought by 

myself and 

count the 

flowers which 

were on the 

carpet. From 

four sides I 

count the 

flowers and 

found the 

center of this 

room."  

 It might be the 

teacher used 

different methods 

for their 

understanding 

that made the 

student think 

about anywhere 

related to their 

study and lesson 

to apply it in their 

life. Or might be 

this student was 

giving connection 

to the life that 

how to apply it in 

our life. 

11 Can you 

explain the 

differences 

between the 

New methods 

can include 

student-

centered 

New methods 

include group 

methods, 

discussion 

 While teachers 

use various types 

of methods, 

students can also 



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14 

 

new method 

and the old 

method of 

teaching? 

methods, 

active learning 

methods, and 

practical 

methods. And 

traditional 

ones include; 

teacher-

centered 

methods, 

lecture 

methods, and 

so on.  

methods Q & 

A methods. 

The 

traditional 

ones: lecture, 

theoretical 

methods, and 

teacher-

centered 

methods.  

decide which 

method is useful 

for them and how 

to adapt them 

with this 

particular 

method.  

 

DISCUSSION 

During the observation of mathematics class, it has been found that the teacher was normally 

teaching to his class, giving more time to the students, asking questions, working in front of the 

class on the whiteboard, working in groups. Therefore, it can suggest that it was a student-

centered learning class. They were looking very active during group discussions also at the time 

of the experiment or at the time of practical work they were feeling happy. Also, these methods 

could be used in school as well.  

In the interviews, the math teacher often expressed views that give time to the student to 

work especially work with his classmates, to learn from each other; also, they may get the 

courage of speaking and social behavior of life. As per the remark made by the teacher during 

the interview that only learning is not important that just complete and finish the books, it does 

not matter that they have learned something or not, they can solve their future problems by this 

learning, how they can apply it in their life like to teach to others and many more. Moreover, 

students were also emphasizing that to be done for them the group work as well the practical 

work, because whenever we see something and the process of that, it will remain in our mind and 

is unforgettable. One thing more, that some of them mentioned that we understand which method 

and pedagogy teacher use during his lecture, but some of them were saying that in some cases we 

cannot understand which method teacher use because we focus on approaches to learning what 

the teacher teaches. Also, we need to learn well because we are also teachers in schools, we have 

to teach these things, to make our students understand and provide the facilities for their better 

learning and to bring changes in their mind.  

Finally, interview responses and classroom observations indicated that most of the time 

teachers gave time to the students to work individually, then work with classmates in groups, 

after the teacher gave the direction of the problem and solving the question for them. Also, it 

should be taught conceptually, then procedurally. Furthermore, the teacher was telling them that 

you may teach it to your students in this and that way to make them understand, also the teacher 

was giving time to the students to think that how this to be taught to your school students to 

make them understand. The teacher educator was able to teach professionally with all those 



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15 

 

approaches to make the students teach in their classes in a very good way. From the observation 

of the class looks the teacher was assessing the students daily by asking the questions, also the 

teacher educator was trying to train the students for their work and assess their students. 

Furthermore, the findings described here as well as findings from studies conducted 

elsewhere suggest that teachers should focus more on practical work, teach conceptually than 

procedurally, and give time to the students to work on problem-solving with/her classmates also 

work individually, these kinds of pedagogies using for the students, can make students active, 

intelligent, creative, and they can memorize also can learn very well. 

 

CONCLUSION 

This research was conducted in a Teacher Training College (TTC) of Paktika Province for math 

subjects teaching pedagogies. Teaching observations were conducted several times in math 

classes, teachers used different pedagogical aspects for the students and different methods, 

giving time to the students to ask and solve the questions, first tried to find the solution by 

students, and then the teacher was giving the directions and solving questions. It is good to use 

different methodologies because it can make students flexible mathematical thinkers; also it is 

good for motivating the students for solving the problems.   

Moreover, in the interview section, math teachers gave their responses to those questions, 

which were asked, like the pedagogies they use in teaching, how they understand the students 

and how they solve their problems.  Also, the materials they use for teaching like using 

laboratory, computer lab, watching different videos related to their topics, and doing different 

experiments. Commonly, these mentioned materials and things are often in use in the Afghan 

TTCs, also in some schools. Furthermore, teachers and students were thinking about the cultural 

and religious issues in teaching, like showing the foreign countries videos also these pedagogies 

were able to use at schools as well. Students were given more chances for the practical activities 

to be done for them and more focusing on conceptual learning. First, it is important to make 

students understand conceptually and then procedurally. Also, focusing on individual differences 

among the students is more important for the teacher, here they were also emphasizing this. 

However looking at these aspects is to be expected from professional teachers that they can take 

benefits from their knowledge and experiences, as mentioned in the framework of teaching in the 

literature review that preparation, classroom environment, instruction, and professional 

responsibilities. These all can be applicable in TTCs and they give these norms to their students 

and encourage them to apply them in their classes as well.  

 

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Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the 

journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative 

Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 

 

 

 

 


