Student Teachers’ Self-perception of their Mathematical Skills and their Conceptions about Teaching Mathematics in Primary Schools

Abstract

Research has shown that more often than not beliefs rather than knowledge are major determinants in pedagogical decisions that teachers make in the classroom (Doudin, Pons, Martin & Lafortune, 2003). Self-perceptions appear to be strongly influenced by students’ relationship with mathematical contents and students’ perceptions about their own ability to master these contents. The importance of self-perceptions, beliefs and pre-conceptions in decision making leads to this question: does student teachers’ self-perception of their mathematical competence influence their conceptions about mathematics teaching? To answer this question we compared the results obtained from two questionnaires administered to student teachers. The first questionnaire focused on conceptions about teaching mathematics while the second focused on self-perceptions in mathematics. This paper analyzes in the context of Boyer's Dialectical reconstruction of knowledge model (Boyer & Mailloux, 2012) the links between student teachers’ conceptions about mathematics education and their perceptions of their own mathematical skills.