Mathematics teachers' problem solving strategies and the difficulties they encounter in fifth grade

Schooling age decreases by shifting the 5th grade from primary level to middle school level with the 4+4+4 amendment in 2012 in Turkey. Hence, secondary school mathematics teachers started to give lecture in the level which they were not trained. Therefore, the necessity occurs for secondary school mathematics teachers to perform learning activities compatible with concrete operational stage in which 5th grade students included. In this study, the amendment which requires to have some new skills of teachers is aimed to analyze by the context of problem-solving skills that secondary school mathematics teachers use in fifth grade, the difficulties they encounter and how they develop. In this qualitative research as a case study, which conducted with 5 secondary school mathematic teachers having varied bachelor's degree and professional experience, interview was used. Four nonroutine problems which teachers can use their problem-solving strategies in varied cognitive stages is submitted to teachers and they asked to display all of their possible strategies. Individually obtained interview data was recorded as audio and video. Qualitative data was analyzed with descriptive analysis technique. Findings reveal that in fifth grade, teachers graduated before 2012 have different troubles from teachers graduated after 2012 and they develop different solutions to enhance their competence. It is observed that not receiving any education compatible with fifth grade, teachers (graduated before 2012) who assumed to receive in service training can solve problems with strategies compatible with fifth grade moreover lecturing longer time period in fifth grade increase the number of variety of strategies in problem solving. They enhance professional competence by trial and error, internet sources and colleague assistance. Teachers who graduated after 2012 or has double major (primary school education and secondary school mathematics education) are not hard put to lead learning activities or solving problems with 5th grade students. They endeavor to enrich their lecture with activities compatible with the stage. Due to underlining inadequacy of in-service training, teachers state that they follow social network.