This study aims to investigate how the courses in didactics of mathematics in preschool and primary teacher education create conditions for preservice teachers to develop professional knowledge in an interactive learning process that integrates the knowledge domains of mathematical subject knowledge and pedagogical mathematical knowledge. An analysis of 20 course documents and 8 focus group interviews with students have been done. The results show that the intentions in the documents create conditions for the students to develop mathematical subject knowledge. Still, they were given inferior conditions for pedagogical mathematical knowledge. In the focus groups, perceptions emerged among the participants about a changed view of mathematics during the education, from being an abstract theoretical subject to a subject to be explored and discovered through various practical exercises and activities. As support for transferring their newly discovered perception, it is important that the students participate in core practices to bridge the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge in teacher education. The continued development of such core practices, in which student teachers can integrate professional knowledge and skills into their education, is an important implication of this study.