Teachers’ Attitudes about Teaching and Learning Mathematics

Abstract

The aim of the research is to determine the attitudes of teachers about different concepts of learning and teaching mathematics in the lower grades of primary school. In accordance with the goal, three research tasks were set in which we wanted to determine the attitudes of teachers towards the traditional and constructive concept of teaching and learning mathematics and possible differences in these attitudes in regard to the degree of education and work experience. The research sample consisted of 161 primary school teachers in Serbia. A scale of attitudes was used as an instrument, which contained 16 items (9 items referred to traditionalist beliefs, and 7 to constructivist beliefs). The results of the research indicate that teachers understand and act in accordance with the requirements of the constructivist concept of modern teaching, but at the same time they determine certain elements of traditional teaching as acceptable and desirable. When it comes to these attitudes, we found that there is no statistically significant difference in regard to the education and work experience of teachers globally, but there is significant difference when it comes to individual items. In some further research, the application of a qualitative methodology should examine how teachers understand and determine the items about which they have expressed their views.