Exploration of Relationships between Teacher and Parent Attitudes and Student Affective Characteristics in Mathematics

Abstract

This study explores the relationships between students’ perceptions of their teachers’ and parents’ attitudes toward them as learners of mathematics and mathematics and their attitudes related to mathematics learning through path analysis. Data was collected from 1,960 7th-grade students enrolled in 19 public elementary schools in a city in Turkey. Results revealed that, through students’ perceptions of their mothers, fathers, and teachers, their confidence in learning mathematics, view of the usefulness of mathematics, and view of the importance of mathematics were associated primarily with their mother’s, father’s, and teacher’s positive or negative attitudes regarding the students as mathematical learners and their teacher’s positive or negative views of teaching.