Analysis of the curricular structure of prospective mathematics teacher education in Brazil leads us to the following conclusion: "these courses have abandoned the 3+1 formula, yet 3+1 has not abandoned them". In what follows I explain what I mean by that, argue in favor of an effective change in the structure of the curricula, and briefly discuss the possibilities of actually implementing the proposed direction of change. Written for the final speech of the II Escola de Inverno em Educação Matemática (Santa Maria, RS) this text is not a research report, though the ideas discussed here are based on part of the specialized literature relative to the field of mathematics teacher education, especially in the last three decades. As a nationwide discussion takes place in Brazil on the so-called Curricular Framework for Prospective Mathematics Teacher Education, this text points to the structural difficulties inherent to a curricular conception according to which content knowledge is defined and taught in a relatively autonomous way with respect to methods and theories of teaching and learning school mathematics.
Mathematics Education; Teacher Education; Prospective Teacher Education; Curriculum