Mathematical structure is central to the interconnectedness of numerical, spatial or logical relationships, but it is not known how well teachers understand this concept or implement it in pedagogical practice. In this paper, we examine three junior secondary mathematics teachers’ understanding of mathematical structure and observe whether they apply it in their teaching. Case study data comprised teacher interviews and mathematics lesson observations. Analysis of interviews and teacher-directed communication (utterances) in lessons utilised an emergent framework for categorising mathematical structure: connections to other learning (C), recognising patterns (R), identifying similarities and differences (I) and generalising and reasoning (G). Findings from the interviews indicated that teachers supported the development of mathematical structure, but the interview responses were not generally reinforced by their utterances in mathematics lesson observations. Analysis of teacher utterances revealed superficial understanding and use of mathematical structure although there was some evidence of CRIG components in the teacher-directed communication for individual cases.

数学结构是数字、空间或逻辑关系相互关联的核心，但尚不清楚教师对这一概念的理解程度或在教学实践中的实施程度。在本文中，我们考察了三位初中数学教师对数学结构的理解，并观察他们是否将其应用到教学中。案例研究数据包括教师访谈和数学课观察。课程中的访谈和教师指导的交流（话语）分析利用了一个新兴框架来对数学结构进行分类：与其他学习的联系（C）、识别模式（R）、识别异同（I）以及概括和推理（G） . 访谈结果表明，教师支持数学结构的发展，但他们在数学课观察中的话语通常不会加强采访反应。对教师话语的分析揭示了对数学结构的肤浅理解和使用，尽管有一些证据表明在个别案例的教师指导交流中存在 CRIG 成分。