What Should a Mathematics Teacher Know?The Difference between Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge

In the 1980s, research in the education field has shown both theoretically and empirically that content knowledge and pedagocical content knowledge need to be taken into consideration separately from each other. Findings have pushed the department of education in different fields to take serious reforms in their administration in terms of the means to provide teachers for future challenges. The purpose of this study is to discuss the qualitative and the quantitative characteristics of the nature of the knowledge that a mathematics teacher candidate needs to hold prior to his/her field experience. The discussion will be based on both the national and international research on content knowledge and pedagocical content knowledge of mathematics teachers. Research findings prove that in todayds world education departments are to be given a core role in the education of mathematics teachers of future generations.