Pre-service Mathematics Teachers' Professional Self-Esteem and Beliefs about the Nature of Mathematics

Abstract

This study aims to examine the professional self-esteem of pre-service primary school mathematics teachers in the context of their beliefs about the nature of mathematics. The study has a quantitative design and 220 pre-service mathematics teachers voluntarily participated in the study. In the data analysis of this study based on a quantitative research design, independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA and multiple regression analyzes were performed and the Pearson correlation coefficient was determined. According to the findings of the study, professional self-esteem and belief about the mathematics' nature are not affected by gender and grade level. In addition, professional self-esteem of the pre-service teachers who believe that mathematics is a branch of science open to exploration, knowledge generation, and related to other sciences and daily life, may be said to be higher-positive than the professional self-esteem of the pre-service mathematics teachers who perceive mathematics as a set of unrelated concepts and formulas or believe that mathematics is a deductive and precise body of knowledge.