Eliciting beliefs with a narrative activity in mathematics teacher education

In a teacher training course for mathematics teachers, a narrative activity was assigned to elicit participants' beliefs on proof. Proof is a very important topic in mathematics education, crucial to develop mathematical thinking, and therefore worth special attention. Individual narrations of one's relation with proof were collected, posted on the web and discussed. This allowed a number of different aspects and views to emerge and to be compared, providing a good opportunity for the trainees to become aware of their own beliefs and shortcomings. The positive outcomes of this experience suggest that narrative can be a suitable tool to address beliefs in teacher education.