Preschool children’s conceptions of the meanings and use of written numerals in everyday life: a phenomenographic study of the nature and structure of qualitative variation

Abstract

Supporting children’s understanding of the everyday, cultural use of written numerals is highly significant, as it is this understanding that gives meaning to classroom conversations on the purposes of written numbers. This paper presents findings from a phenomenographic study of the qualitatively different ways in which 3–5-year-old children interpret the meanings and use of numerals in everyday contexts. The study involved a volunteer sample of 37 preschool children. With their family’s support, children played a Number Spotting game, taking photographs of numerals in their environments. These photographs were supplemented with other photographs selected by the researchers and used in individual photo-elicitation interviews with children. We collected data on children’s interpretations of a range of examples of numerals used to denote quantity, order and measurement, and numerals used as labels/identifiers. The findings document qualitatively different categories that capture the range of children’s expressed conceptions as well as the critical aspects of variation that underpin how qualitatively different categories of conceptions differ or relate to each other. The study provides original insights into the nature and structure of children’s awareness of the cultural uses of written numerals. The findings can support early mathematics teaching to make meaningful connections between the knowledge that children develop outside of school and the new knowledge about written numbers that they develop in formal education.