Abstract
Namibian preservice high school mathematics teachers’ (N=4) and teacher educators’ (N=3) beliefs about mathematics learning difficulties (MLD) were investigated to document the beliefs developed at the end of the teacher education program, the views and practices that might be emphasized in the program, and possible changes in these beliefs during the first year teaching. Preservice teachers were interviewed before they graduated from the teacher education program and during their first-year teaching. Teacher educators were interviewed once. Participants believed that the most important factor causing MLD at the high school was students’ knowledge and beliefs. Teacher educators stated former unqualified teachers and preservice teachers stated curriculum and teachers’ workload as other causes of MLD. Participants suggested individual support and mixed ability grouping to reduce students’ MLD. The partial alignment of beliefs among the participants showed that preservice teachers might have developed some beliefs through the views and practices emphasized in the program. Preservice teachers elaborated more on MLD when they became teachers and stated similar beliefs with some stress on their MLD-related practices. Preservice teachers did not comment on how teachers’ knowledge and practices might influence students’ MLD in both times. Findings pointed that teacher education programs should focus on increasing preservice teachers’ awareness of how their knowledge, practices and beliefs about MLD might affect students to improve their future practices. It is possible that teachers’ beliefs about MLD could be related to their beliefs about the nature of mathematical knowledge and indicators of high performance in mathematics.
Highlights
Investigating beliefs has been an important line of research in the field of education (Fives & Buehl, 2012) and mathematics education (Cross Francis, Rapacki, & Eker, 2015; Philipp, 2007; Thompson, 1992)
Preservice teachers believed that students needed a strong mathematics knowledge base that should be built at the earlier grades
The findings of the study showed that preservice teachers and teacher educators had similar observations about students with mathematics learning difficulties (MLD) and how it might have started and/or strengthened especially at the high school contexts to some extent
Summary
Investigating beliefs has been an important line of research in the field of education (Fives & Buehl, 2012) and mathematics education (Cross Francis, Rapacki, & Eker, 2015; Philipp, 2007; Thompson, 1992). It can be stated that in the most general sense, and in this study, teachers’ beliefs are considered as the understandings that they take as true about the world (Philipp, 2007) mostly developed through their experiences and interactions with the others, and observations especially in the case of preservice teachers (Pajares, 1992) These understandings, which are shaped by teachers’ experiences in dealing with mathematics (Raymond, 1997), influence their decisions about what they plan for their practice and how they enact this plan in the mathematics classrooms (Cross Francis et al, 2015). As we did not have the opportunity to observe participants’ teaching practices, the present study did not focus on the relationship between mathematics teachers’ beliefs about MLD and their practices
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